Ouroboros
by Major Wes Janson
Summary: Just before the End, Star wished it could have gone differently. The Magic did not want to be destroyed. So it granted her wish.
1. Prologue: The Ending

Magic was not defined by artificial constructs like morality, or fairness, or friendship. Justice and love were matters for mortal beings. The realm of magic could be shaped and molded by individuals, changing form or appearance, but magic did not care about how it was defined by those individuals. Normal, light, dark, corrupt, magic simply was. The form of magic made no difference, except to those that used it. Magic existed to be used. And to be used, magic must continue to exist. Magic created the life, the universe, everything. For a mortal being to think they could destroy magic was the height of hubris.

Star Butterfly could only recall flashes, like in a mad dream. The magic realm and evil millhorses. Tom Lucitor, left behind and now corrupted like the rest of the realm. Her mother, the cause of all this, calling her back. Marco by her side, where he belonged. Dear, sweet, beloved Marco. With a wand? Her rage at destiny, forcing her to choose between the right thing for Mewni, and her nascent relationship with the one she loved, officially begun only hours before in a stable. Her attempt to use the whispering spell only made it as far as uttering the first words before her voice choked off and the breath ripped from her throat. The bitter irony of trying to use magic spells to destroy magic. Marco, protecting her, being thrown back in pain. Marco stabbed through the chest by a dark millhorse, the wound bleeding out as a stain of dark magic spread throughout his body. MARCO! It wasn't his time to die! It wasn't fair! They didn't have the time they deserved together! Star didn't have the time to come up with a proper plan to destroy magic, didn't have the time to stop Mina, to see what her mother had become. She didn't have enough TIME!

Creating spells was neither a science, nor an art. While wrapped up in rituals and difficult to master, magic wanted to be used. It didn't matter whether the spell was a quick blast channeled through a wand, words shouted, chanted, or recited. Poetic rhymes and summoning dances carefully written down and recorded were no different than impulsive shouts. What mattered was merely a user with a strong enough focus, and a strong enough intent. The world before Star flashed with an explosion of color too painful to look at. Her eyes clenched closed but the painful radiance burned through her eyelids and everything went black.

AN. Wanted to get this posted past the point of no return, before the finale aired and I want to change everything. First proper chapter will be up shortly. After that, I'll do my best. Honestly not the best at schedules, but I have multiple parts planned. Just need to put the words to paper and fill out the connecting flow. And maybe if I can get a flow going with this sorty, I'll finally go back and continue some of my long neglected Community fics. Rating will likely change, and characters and pairings will be added as the story goes on.


	2. And it Begins

Everything was black. Her mind was foggy, dazed like she had been hit by her own jellybean hallucination mist. A feeling that something momentous had just happened, or was just about to happen, or was happening, nagged at her. Somehow she had cheated fate, but she drew a blank on what that fate was, and why she wanted to cheat it.

Still, the blackness, and a suffocating warmth surrounding her. Was she dead? If she was, that wasn't exactly the way she had planned to cheat. If she was dead, that meant that she still wouldn't get the chance to be with Mmmaar... The thought faded out frustratingly, jolted away by a sudden noise, a series of cracks that penetrated the fog. After a moment, they repeated. Well, that settled it. Not dead. Probably. She had never imagined death to feel like... feel like... her old bed?

Her eyes opened to a slightly brighter darkness. Now she could identify it as a quilt she had wrapped around her to keep out the Torax cold...December cold...which one was it again? This time when the sound came she recognized it as the polite rapping of knuckles on the outside of her door. "It's time to arise, Your Highness!" a voice called out.

"Urgh!" she groaned dramatically. "Five more minutes, Manfred!" The response was automatic, coming from a well worn habit rather than actual thought.

"Of course, Your Highness. I would have expected no less, even on your birthday. I shall return promptly." Receding footsteps indicated his departure. Birthday? Her birthday? Part of her wondered at how it felt out of place, something that shouldn't be happening, while a more primal part began to shriek with excitement. Not only was it her birthday, but it was going to be awesome! Something special was happening, and more than just a party all about her!

She threw off her covers and glanced in the mirror, seeing a young face with bed messed blonde hair, hearts on her cheeks aglow, an infectious smile, but oddly sad eyes. Still, that blasted fog in her head. In an effort to clear it up, she glanced out the windows, memories returning as her gaze swept over the countryside. There was an odd reverberation to the thoughts, as though they were both recent and from deeper in her mind; old and stale but also new and fresh.

Outside, the rolling hills of corn, wild forests, and soaring mountains, this was Mewni- a magical land. She was... a Princess! A magical one at that, naturally for a magical land. A princess called Star. Star Butterfly! That was the name people called her, in affection, in a voice she strained to link to a face or name with love, in amusement. Also in anger and hate, and often in frustration or disappointment. A lot of the latter, actually. Those same voices also seemed to call her things like reckless or irresponsible which seemed grossly unfair to Star. She had just spent months under massive pressure and stress, helping...someone... _a queen?_ at the expense of her own desires. Stump forbid she actually have a chance to relax with... someone else, someone important to her, together for a too brief period of time, why again? What was she thinking about?

Oh yeah, immature and reckless. Ha! More like they were jealous that she fought monsters and kicked their asses! Or that she was so skilled at finding and taming wild unicorns! So what if they didn't stay tamed! They got her where she wanted to go, and that was tame enough for her! It was fun! And Star was all about having fun! Was she? Wasn't there more to her? Right, fun!

Oh, her birthday! Star couldn't believe she forgot what that meant. The traditional fourteenth birthday of a princess- she was going to be given the Butterfly family heirloom! The Wand! She could have so much more fun once she had the wand and all the magic it was capable of! Did she deserve the wand? Did she have a right to it? Rogue thoughts continued to try casting clouds in Star's mind. It didn't matter! Mother had to bestow it on her. Technically she wouldn't actually turn fourteen for months yet, but Stump Day was all about the Stump, so her family had agreed to hold her official party on the day furthest away in the year instead. That meant she would actually be getting the Wand early!

Giggles bubbled up from Star's throat, and the hearts on her cheeks briefly changed to small smiling faces. But in the mirror, the confusing sadness in her eyes didn't fade, nor did the nagging sensation that something was off about all of this. Fortunately, the mystery of the eyes in the mirror was replaced by a message informing her of an incoming call. Pony Head! Wait, how did she know that was about to happen? It didn't matter. Pony Head was her best bestie of course! It made perfect sense that she would call Star today.

Star tapped the crystal on the mirror to answer, and was greeted by the sight of a floating unicorn head blowing a party horn at her. "Yo what up, B-Fly!"

"Pony Head!" Star cried back happily, before her friend started singing.

"I just called 'cause I have to say, happy birthday on your birthday day, happy birthday on your birthday day! Yay Star!"

"Aww, thanks Pony Head! I'm so excited for today!"

"Oh, you know it gurl! Today you get your wand, and we are going to _party...it...up_! You just let me know when your Mom and Dad let you use the scissors and I'll get the Bounce Crew together to celebrate!"

"You know it!" Star replied. It would be good to see the crew again. Kelly, Tad, Headphone Jones, Johnny Blowhole, and Lady Scarfs-a-lot. It had been so long since they were all together, or was it only last month? "Hang on a moment Pony, Manfred is about to come back." She barely finished before the rapping at the door returned.

"Will it be another five minutes, your highness?" the servant asked.

"Nope, I'm awake! Wide awake! I get the wand today-ay-ay!"

"Very well. The royal bequeathal gown that your mother has selected is prepared. Please let the handmaids know when you are ready."

"Whoa, girl, that was kind of spooky!" Pony Head commented when Manfred left and Star turned back to the mirror. "You knew what was going to happen just before it did!"

At that, Star shrugged. There was a sudden dissonance in her memories, like the last few moments had not quite played out the way they should have. It was like an itch inside her head. "I just heard him coming," she concluded to herself and her friend. After a few minutes of pleasantries and party planning, Pony Head gave her goodbyes and hung up. Impatient for the day to go on, she called in the handmaids who brought an aresenal of beauty tools and stockpile of clothing. The ladies chatted among themselves as they began to work on Star's long silky blonde locks. The trio didn't bother to address the princess directly, leaving Star alone with her thoughts. Mostly she was excited thinking about the wand and what she could do with it, but in the back of her mind there was a mass weighing her thoughts down. It avoided her probes, mental inquiries scattering and deflecting around whatever it was. Star began to picture it like a locked room, though it was unclear if it was locked to keep her out, or to keep her safe. Various attempts to pick the mental lock kept her occupied for a time, but quickly she became frustrated.

By now, she was dressed in an elaborate pale blue gown, and a base layer of makeup had been applied. That was enough. The handmaids would spend far more hours primping and preening her if given the option. Instead, Star took a page from her father's side of the family and bolted for the stairs, evading the hands and tuts of ladies still trying to make her a 'proper' Butterfly princess. The guards at the door instinctively began to give chase as the princess bolted from her room, though it was a halfhearted effort. By now, there was a tacit understanding that if Star could get out of sight, the guards would consider honor fulfilled in their duty to stop her and let her go free. The quickest way was to get to down the stairs. The formal dress slowed her however, and she needed to make up some time.

"Rail slide!" she shouted as she leapt atop the banister. The crystal at the bottom shouldn't have caught her by surprise, but she ran into it at speed. Fortunately it was mainly decorative and shattered, though Star ended up in a tumble that sent her into the hard stone floor with one of the many royal paintings collapsing on top of her. At least the floofy skirts absorbed most of the fall and left her unharmed. Even her hair and tiara were unscathed, and she cheered at the near miss with disaster. While destructive, the guards were far behind and she was now free to go.

Unfortunately, she had been scheduled for several more hours of ministrations at the hands of the makeup harpies, and it was going to be some time before the ceremony was meant to start. Several hours of boredom, with nothing to distract her from the uncertainties spawned by that locked place in her head. But Star Butterfly was not going to let boredom defeat her. She was a princess of action! Nobody was going to call her 'the bored,' 'the shy,' 'the heaped' or 'the chef.' Star Butterfly was going to make an impression on her Wand Day. She was encouraged on her planned path of action by the way the weight lifted slightly.

Unicorn wrangling was a skill that took patience and discipline. Despite those hurdles, Star considered herself pretty good at it. She had enough woodcraft experience to make her way through the woods outside the castle without messing up her unwieldy dress, though her shoes were a little worse for wear. Good thing she didn't intend to walk back. It took a while, but after tracking several animals that were too young or old for what she wanted, Star crept up behind a fine unicorn stallion. Its head perked up as though it heard or scented her, so she froze. Finally, when it relaxed and took a drink, Star leapt.

Maybe she didn't quite think this through, Star admitted to herself as her new mount reared and then took off at a sprint. They tore through the woods as she clung for dear life with her knees and gripped its mane. The speed and feeling of the wind in her face was worth it though, and slowly any fear faded into exhilaration. Sensing her loss of tension, the unicorn calmed slightly and allowed her to steer it in the direction of Butterfly Castle. Star didn't try to slow down however, she had taken quite some time on her hunt and was most likely late.

Soon trees gave way to grassland and then to fields of corn. Before long, she was racing through the Groundlands with Mewmans scattering before her. Star felt a brief moment of guilt as she crashed through several market stands, but it was quickly relegated to the back of her mind again. Her excitement continued to build as she made her way through the middle and upper quarters, before passing groups of guards lining the streets surrounding the Grand Chapel.

The great doors ahead of her began to crack open, prompted by the thunder of her approach, but the unicorn was moving too fast still. Star crashed through the doors as guests cried out in shock. Her steed raced up the central nave towards the chancel where her parents were waiting for her. Galloping too fast to stop, the unicorn leapt above the duo as they ducked, and Star herself made a graceful flip of a dismount. She landed in front of her parents as the unicorn crashed through the stained glass in the wall behind them, and she mentally bade it thanks and good luck with its escape from the city.

Before her, Queen Moon and King River Butterfly shared a glance, hers with disapproval, his with amusement, neither with much surprise. Star's own eyes were fixed on the wand in her mother's hand, a delicately filigreed scepter of gold, topped by a sapphire heart of Columbrian crystal. _Wand! _Oddly, a thought leaked out of the locked room and she pictured the wand instead ad a green spiked wheel with a ruby and bat wings, held in a male hand. _Still, Wand!_

Star bounced in place and reached for it, but Moon pulled it away from her grasp. "Now Star, this wand is a big responsibility. If it falls into the hands of evil forces, the universe could be destroyed," her mother scolded. The lock seemed to be weakening, and her mother's words brought up a feeling of impending doom, as if Star's universe being threatened was a prophesy instead of a warning, and she giggled nervously in response. Bravado quickly took over and the feeling passed. _Wand! _She reached out, and this time Moon placed the wand in her hand. There was a tingle as the wand made a connection with its new bearer, and Star felt a satisfying warmth and scent of caramel corn. It lit with an internal glow as it shifted forms to better match her, the posh golden decor melting away into a more simple lavender, the elegant crystal crown growing expanding into a round bell with an amethyst star in the center topped by a small crown and white wings, as if it could just fly away. It was now _her_ wand, even if it didn't quite feel like it really belonged to her. But the connection was strong.

"Don't worry, Mom, I can handle it," Star declared confidently. With the wand in her hand, and nagging thoughts from the weight in her head blessedly silent, the rest of the ceremony passed in a blur.

In fact the next several weeks were surprisingly uneventful, days filled with testing the wand, sneaking out to hunt the cyclops Tobitt for her father, trying to think of things to write in the Magic Instruction Book, and partying with Pony Head and the Bounce Crew. While having a blast, Star also felt restless, like she was merely going through the motions. She mentioned the feeling to Glossaryck once, but he merely cocked an interested eyebrow before changing the subject to the motions of an incantation dance, losing her interest. Especially with the upcoming Silver Bell Ball.

It turned out that the Ball that year was far from the snooze fest of prior years. Well, the Ball itself was boring with the pomp and ritual and ritualized dancing, but there Star met a boy _ok a boy-demon_ there. His name was Tom Lucitor, and he was charming and funny; handsome with the body of a swimmer. The duo agreed to a date for cornshakes, which led to a pleasant day and the discovery of a devil horned headband she was irresistibly drawn to. And fun with Tom, which led to another date, and another after that. A romantic adventure in the trees and they were officially dating.

Unfortunately, the locked room began to issue nagging thoughts again after several weeks of silence. While she enjoyed spending time with Tom having fun and laughing, the addition of romance oddly soured things, like she was making a wrong choice. Their connection began to strain as Star's inner voices urged distance, and Tom began to show more of a temper and desire for solid plans.

It all came to a head after a Lucitor family event where evidently his mother Wrathmelior had gotten involved. He was a prince, she was a princess. As a result, Tom now wanted their dates to transition into a formal courtship. Not only was Star a free-spirited fourteen-ish year old with a magic wand and thirst for adventure, her emotions about Tom were conflicted. She liked him, but in her heart she pictured someone else. At first she attempted to let him down easy. The problem was that Star couldn't even figure out exactly why she felt the way that she did for herself. A confused attempt at an explanation about the weight in her mind and the feeling that her heart belonged to some boy she couldn't name or describe went over...poorly. The end result was Tom throwing a raging tantrum his father Dave would have been proud of and Star calling everything off.

Frustrated by the blowup with Tom, by the guilt that she should be more sad about the breakup, and by the constant ache in the back of her mind and heart, Star retreated to the Forest of Certain Death for a Tobitt-hunt. He wasn't hard to find, but there was a reason her father could never catch him. The cyclops led her on a merry chase through the trees, dodging cupcake blasts, mighty narwhals, daisy cutters, even a barrage of shooting star explosions. Finally, the frustration built up and built up, and the wand began to glow a dangerous green. "Massive Happy Flamebow!" she shouted. Trees snapped and bushes flattened before a wave of prismatic light that trailed fire in its wake. Tobitt escaped. A nearby village did not. Star was stricken.

Fortunately there were few injuries, and the damage restored when Queen Moon temporarily confiscated the wand back. Mother was not pleased however. Star had messed up, put her future subjects in danger, and shown she didn't have enough control over her powers. Evidently when magic turns green, emotional turmoil, yada yada yada.

She was allowed to have a goodbye party with her friends, but Star knew she was going to be sent away for lessons. It was a more subdued evening with Pony Head and the others telling jokes and doing their best to keep her spirits up, but Star's mind was on her upcoming banishment, not the food or decor. More feelings were stating to escape the lock. Why didn't she feel so worried? Why was there a bubble of anticipation like the day she was given the wand? At least the wand was returned to her, after a full three days of lectures about magic safety and responsibility from Moon, Glossaryck, and even Rhombulus from the Magic High Commission. Honestly, Star had not been paying much attention to anything since the accident however. She couldn't even recall where she was being sent, but assumed the worst.

All too soon, the day arrived. The manticore drawn carriage was being packed with her belongings, her room sparkle glitter shrink compacted into the wand, and Star dressed in her formal gown again to make a proper princess impression. Proper or no, Star wasn't too proud to beg. "Nooo! I can be good!" She threw herself at the mercy of her parents. "Please don't send me to St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses!" Her mind conjured horrible images of the so-called princess jail, known mostly by rumor and gossip among young royals. Her father gave her a kindly look.

"Sweetheart, we're not sending you there," he soothed.

"Yet," threatened her mother as Star perked up and picked herself off the ground.

"We're sending you to train in a safer dimension; a place called Earth." River explained.

"Earth?" Star repeated. The name was unfamiliar, but seemed to echo in her mind, unlocking images of square buildings, exotic foods, laughing faces, and a creature she was oddly confident was called an opossum. The lock felt like it suddenly snapped open, and suddenly her mind was awash with fractured memories sliding around in her brain. They tumbled around, adrift of context, bumping into one another and spinning away as she tried to reach for them. Unsure what it all meant, she felt herself being none too gently pushed towards the carriage. Stepping inside, she instinctively reached out to buckle herself in, before realizing that she didn't know what a seat belt was, or how she knew it was called a seat belt at all.

Her parents joined her, and she slid over to the window as the manticores began to trot into the portal he father commanded open. "Goodbye, Mewni," she offered a mournful farewell. Something told her that this Earth place was important, and held the key to answers about the chaos in her mind, but Mewni was still her home. She felt fiercely protective of it even as she was being banished.

The ride through the portal was effectively instantaneous, the magic of dimensional scissors. The cool winds of early spring Mewni were replaced by the warmth of a blazing sun, and Star began to sweat immediately in her gown. But only from the temperature. Star had expected to feel nervous. She was a somewhat seasoned dimensional traveler who knew that each world was different. It would take a while to fit in and learn the local customs and way things worked. She had never even heard of Earth before today. So why did entering the dimension come across like putting on a comfortable pair of socks?

Outside on the remarkably straight and smooth street, carriages passed by without the aid of horses or manticores, though invisible goats were still a possibility. They had to be extremely strong to pull them at those speeds however. Many slowed as they passed the royal carriage, and Star watched as people pulled out hand-boxes which flashed. She didn't feel any danger from the onlookers, and assumed that they were merely taking pictures with the local version of her compact mirror.

"You'll have plenty of time to sight-see later," her father told her, pulling her attention from the people and sights outside. "Your mother and I have been making arrangements for you, including a place to stay with people to take care of you." The way he spoke made it sound like she was going to be on her own here. If her mother had her way, there would likely be a contingent of guards and handmaidens assigned to be her watchers.

"Where am I staying?" she asked.

"Well, Glossaryck determined that this region of Earth was ideal for you, lots of people your age. No local royalty, but he was still insistent, claiming something about access to pudding of chocolate." River made a confused face at the last. The magic tutor was a mysterious and cryptic sort, but Star somehow knew that the pudding was a food of some sort, different from meat or corn that made up the basis of the Mewnian diet. And it came in little brown cup things. She had never eaten it before, but her mouth watered at the rich sweet flavor in her imagination.

Moon took over the explanation. "Earth is home to humans, who you might remember from your 'creatures of the multiverse' lessons. There is no monarchy here, therefore since there is no-one of the proper station to care for you, we found some experts in the subject. On Earth they call it 'exchange study' when people travel between kingdoms to learn or train. There is a Diaz family here that are well known for sheltering and protecting these exchange students. They have agreed to let you stay with them and will offer you full hospitality. They may be commoners, but you are to treat them with all proper courtesy and respect. In fact, more courtesy and respect than you treat your caregivers back home," her mother added the last acerbically. Star perked up. If they were commoners maybe they would let her have fun and enjoy herself without trying to mold her into a proper future queen. Even if mother and her aunts bribed them with gold and gave them a library on proper Mewnian etiquette books, this land without royalty meant she could probably get away with a lot more.

"Ah, here we are my dears," River announced as the carriage pulled to a stop in front of a wide flat building built of tan stone and bricks. The words Echo Creek Academy were printed above the front entrance, and several boys and girls of a similar age to herself wandered or lounged around outside. More unbidden memories resolved, and Star knew the building was a place of endless boredom, cheerful camaraderie, and little metal boxes she could put things in and decorate.

"What is this place?" Star asked, though her mind was filling in blanks on its own.

"It's called a school," Moon explained. "A place where all the tutors come to teach children the things they need to know."

"Like magic?"

"Well, no, you have the book and Glossaryck for that. Remember there is no magic in this world. Since you are here as an 'exchange student,' you will be required to come to school. It may not be the same lessons as back on Mewni, but you will learn things that you will need to know as a future queen." Moon sighed as Star's attention inevitably drifted away and back towards the window.

Sweltering in her royal attire, Star looked at the young people outside the school, and their variety of dress. It seemed to be a middle ground between the plain or ragged linen and wool attire of most Mewmans and the decadent frippery of the royal court. Earth clothes seemed to be simple, comfortable, and generally brightly colored. Many of the students also carried pouches or satchels around, filled with books and other sundries. Star pulled at her gown. "I don't have to wear this here, do I?" she asked her parents plaintively. "None of the other children are."

"None of those children are princesses," Moon shook her head. "You have a standard to uphold..."

"Oh, pfah," River interrupted. "Moon Pie, this isn't a ball or family event. If she is going to live here for now, she should be allowed to fit in." He gave Star a fatherly grin. "If it were up to me, we wouldn't be doing this school nonsense at all. You should be out in nature, taking on the wild, learning to track and kill wild bogbeasts and hydras..."

"Oh, very well," Moon sighed, interrupting her husband before he could get truly into his wind. Star bounced with glee. Let's see. Another glance at the various outfits, and she had an idea of what passed of 'normal' around here. She pulled out the wand and concentrated hard.

"Radiant...Raiment...Transform!" A blast of light swirled around her dress and it began to glow as the ruffles and laces melted away. In it's place, a far simpler dress of green coalesced, decorated with just a bit of white trim and a happy little octopus on the front. Petticoats and skirts were replaced with striped leggings, and formal heels swapped with a pair of comfortable rhinoceros face boots she had seen once in the market and always wanted. Instead of a large satchel like most of the children, a small star shaped pouch hung on her hip, though it was much larger on the inside than it appeared. Finally, her tiara was gone, swapped for her favorite head band, the one with the little devil horns.

"Well done, Star." Moon congratulated her somewhat grudgingly. It was clear the outfit did not please her, but the spell used was a rather effective and controlled use of magic. Star opened the door and hopped out of the carriage as several students began to approach and pull out their own little square compact mirrors. As least hers would fit right in. Several gasped as her parents followed her in their full regal attire, but no one came too close to the trio. Soon, attention went back to the manticores, and Star hoped they would be safe. The beasts were not known for being picture friendly.

Within moments of entering the school, Star felt like she knew the layout of the place on an instinctual level. Though nearly identical, she picked out Janna's locker next to Hope's as they passed by, and wondered what was hiding behind the back panel. Wait, who was Janna, and why was she so sure there was a hidden panel? The rogue memories were getting out of hand. Or was she seeing the future? Some of her great great _great_ great great grandmas had done time magic, at least what she could recall from skimming their chapters. Maybe Glossaryck was right and she should actually read the thing, even if it was pretty boring. He ought to know one way of the other if there was anything like what she suspected.

Unfortunately she couldn't just ask directly. Not only was she unlikely to get a non-cryptic reply, Glossaryck probably still answered to her mother, and if they thought she was going to crazy this exile to Earth would quickly be replaced with a trip to St. O's. Star shuddered. She was going to have to be subtle. It was not going to be easy.

The principal's office was rather plain for the leader of a school. Dominated by a desk with the name Principal Skeeves attached, the remainder of the space was taken up by chairs and shelves full of papers, awards, and knick-knacks. The man himself was short and rotund with glasses and a bow-tie, oozing a greasy charm that reminded Star of many of the courtiers in the royal court. She slumped in a chair by the wall as her parents explained the situation. In depth.

Hourglasses began to spin on her cheeks as talks of her joining the school continued. She tried to pry some memories loose from new cache, something entertaining to try to figure out, but with no luck. This was taking so long! She stared at the clock on the wall, watching the little thin hand spin in a circle for a whole revolution before that lost her interest in that as well. Finally, she settled on the light switch by the door. Quietly, she stood up and made her way over to it. Flip. The lights went out. Flip. They were back on. Flip, flip, flip, flip. Star had forgotten how much _fun_ the wall magic was. Her parents and the principal glanced over to her. "And you said there was no magic on Earth," she blurted out, amused at her own antics. OK, it wasn't exactly _real _magic, and you definitely didn't want to try to eat it, but wall magic let you do so _many_ fun things.

Like make a bad impression. Her mother had a rather impressive glare, and even her father looked embarrassed. Principal Skeeves himself shook his head. "Yeah...this isn't going to work." River just sighed and pulled out a small chest of gold and jewels that had been prepared for this eventuality. The bribe was effective. The principal's eyes glittered with avarice, and he instantly changed his mind. "She is going to love it here!" he cried as he reached out for the chest. Star had never been concerned that he would actually turn her down. Too many things were telling her she knew this place. Instead she flickered the lights again, watching as the gold and jewels sparkled and glimmered before the principal closed the lid and tucked the chest under his arm.

"She's going to need a guide," her father added. For that much money, it was expected. For that much money, they could have probably bought the school outright.

"Of course, of course," Skeeves soothed, not tearing his eyes from the bounty in his arms.

"Someone who can teach Star her way around on Earth, and most importantly, keep her safe," Queen Moon added.

"I know just the person, actually," The principal clicked a button on his desk with the free hand and spoke into a little wand. "Marco Diaz to the principal's office, Marco Diaz to the principal's office." Something about the name gave her flutters, but stubbornly no helpful memories unlocked. But Diaz again? Wasn't she staying with a Diaz family? Was everyone on Earth called Diaz? The room descended into an awkward silence as Star gave up on the lights. Her parents came over to her and formed a huddle.

"Your things are being delivered to the place you are staying. There are transports on this world, but we will leave the carriage to take you there after this school ends for the day," her mother offered, not ready to say farewell yet.

"It's fine, I know how to get there. I can just take Cloudy," Star replied, surprising all three. Her parents shared a look, but said nothing about the admission of knowledge she shouldn't have known. Her father broke the impasse. His eyes welled up with tears.

"I'm going to miss you, daughter," he cried as he wrapped her in a massive rib-cracking hug.

"Indeed. Be careful dear," her mother added. "Keep yourself and the wand safe. But if all else is lost, remember the First Spell. Don't let it fall into the wrong hands."

"It won't come to that," Star replied solemnly with the breath not squeezed out of her.

"And we set you up with a Pixie network for your mirror, so remember to call often. We are going to want to see how you are doing."

"Oh totally, totally, totally," Star brushed off the request. "I'll be fine Mom and Dad. I'll have my guide to Earth, he should be here any minute."

"I believe that's our queue to leave, Moon Pie," River chuckled and finally released his daughter. The trio stared at one another, caught between a familial farewell and a dignified affair. Moon settled for a nod, and River already had his hug. Tears sparkled in their eyes, but no more words were shared as they left together. Star followed them out and watched as they returned to the carriage and Manfred cut the portal open for their return to Mewni.

"Bye, Mom and Dad," Star said under her breath. She wasn't scared or nervous about being on Earth, but this was still going to be a massive change. Behind her, Principal Skeeves had fallowed her out, keeping an eye on her as he had promised. The other eye was locked on his new wealth. Several coins and gems had already fallen out of the chest in a forgotten trail of wealth. As the short man glanced up the hallway looking for the guide, Star scooped up a handful of the loose coins and dropped them in her purse. Skeeves wasn't going to miss them. Star wished her guide would show up soon.

Her new dress was far lighter and more comfortable, but Earth was quite a bit warmer than home. Throat now feeling parched, she looked over at the wall and found what she knew would be there. A silver water box. She knew what it was somehow, but how it functioned continued to elude her. Behind her, voices indicated that her guide had arrived while her attention was diverted. Skeeves began to explain the situation, while the younger voice seemed offended and argued. Something about a misunderstood bad boy which made her giggle internally, but Skeeves continued to call him Safe Kid. That must be his title. But for the moment, she was still thirsty. Hesitantly she leaned over the box and pressed for the button in a way that seemed right. A press of the handle started the water, but unfortunately it was aimed right at her and splashed in her face.

Surprised, she jumped back, and then her Johansen instincts kicked in. Fists and teeth were weapons, and she leapt on the offending water box. Her battle was interrupted by an embarrassed cough and she declared a truce with her foe. "Uhh, you drink from it, not try to eat it," the boy informed her.

"I...I knew that," she replied with a hesitant chuckle before turning to look at her guide. He was standing there with a rather appalled look, and her heart leapt into her throat as her stomach dropped out. It was HIM! The boy was slightly taller than her, dressed in a simple red hoodie and black skinny pants. Intelligent eyes stared at her as the mole on his cheek pulled up in a friendly smile. His mop of dark hair was messier than he usually liked, but in the way that Star preferred.

"I'm Marco," he said as he offered her a hand to shake. Star already knew that. Somehow she knew what felt like everything about him. How he was a true friend. The feel of his arms wrapped around her in hugs both friendly and more than friendly. How he would risk his life for her even without magic of his own. The pride he felt in his karate skills. That he made awesome triangle foods. Even his social security number, whatever that was. So many memories and emotions crashed together that she froze in shock. Were they memories or visions of the future? Did it matter? Instinctively she reached out and took his offered hand. There was a spark as her skin touched his warm grip, and the connection she had been missing before roared to life in her heart. Him, here, this was right.

Too right. There was too much rushing into her mind though. memories, thoughts, and emotions all crashing together into an indistinct blur. It was going to take more than a few moments to unravel the tangled mess. But the bedrock of everything told her one thing. This Marco was her best friend, and she his. Somehow. Or they were going to be? _Say something!_ "I'm Star Butterfly," she finally replied.

Either Marco didn't know or didn't acknowledge the turmoil in her thoughts. "I guess I'm supposed to show you around?" he offered, though he didn't look too pleased at the task and his smile faded. As they started her tour Marco began to point out classrooms and people with the bored tone of someone not particularly thrilled with the subject matter. For him, he was just describing the routine, things he probably saw every day. For Star, the best way to learn a new dimension was to question everything and let her local guide show off their knowledge to the outsider.

It was slightly confusing as some things he said or gestured to triggered her mind to throw up related thoughts or memories. Star felt that they were only the tip of a massive mountain, but still they only made themselves accessible to her at a languid pace. What was even worse were the ones that slipped by, manifesting not in thought or recollection, but as simple knowledge suddenly revealing itself. Random faces they passed would abruptly be attached to names and the understanding of how various earth gadgets worked teased her. While Marco trudged along the center of the hall, these snippets had Star bouncing around him, greeting people that were mentally categorized as friends or acquaintances, and poking into places to confirm the accuracy of her newfound recall.

What she really wanted to know was about Marco himself. Somehow, he was the key to her brainload, to unraveling the mystery. So far however the direct approach hadn't gotten her anywhere, memories instead sneaking around the sides to fill in gaps rather than answer directly. Kind of like talking to Glossaryck, actually. Maybe she could use that. Star decided to try to steer the conversation to a more personal one, where she could maybe ask questions about Marco himself.

"Thanks for showing me around, safe kid," she tried, but his face immediately took on a stricken cast.

"What? No!" he protested. _Ohhh, whoops._ Safe kid wasn't a title or role, but a nickname that he hated. Of course she would remember that_ now,_ slightly too late to avoid setting him off. "I don't know where people get the idea I'm so safe!" He took a moment to nudge her around a hole in the floor. "Oh, watch your step. Loose tile. It's ridiculous!" He quickly shut a locker door in her path that she had overlooked. "Careful." He grimaced. "You wear a helmet in the gym shower one time, and you're labeled for life! Oops, broken glass." A gentle hand guided her around a shattered bottle. He quickly let go again, beginning to gesture wildly with his hands. "Frankly, I like taking risks and would welcome a little danger in my life!"

Well, if it would make him happy... Star pulled out her wand and spotted a butterfly fluttering in the breeze. A quick Monstrous Moth Transform and it grew into a snarling beast. Marco squawked in surprise and left behind her as the beast grabbed another student and carried him off. Star hoped he would be ok. "What the heck was that?! Marco demanded.

Star shrugged sheepishly. "Oops. Heh. I thought you wanted a little dane-ja!" She enunciated the word. Marco looked at the receding beast and back at her. He seemed to study her intently, as though looking at her properly for the first time.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"I'm a magical princess from another dimension!" she explained, casting a friendly rainbow to help demonstrate. Or was it a flamebow?

Marco just gaped at her before stammering, "Well, that brings us to the end of the tour. I'm going home now." Was school over already? He turned and practically fled. Star was a little off-put by that, but it was _Marco_ so she merely waved good bye.

"Bye new friend! See you tomorrow! Bye! Bye best friend! See you later!" He put his hood up and seemed to move even faster. Star had a suspicion that things could have gone a _bit_ better. A feeling of heat and the sound of sirens startled her, and she turned around to see that it was a _flamebow_, not a rainbow, and flames were making their way up the wall and roof of the school. Not again! "Winterstorm Hyperblow!" she showed as she aimed the wand. The flames were quickly snuffed out and replaced with sheets of ice that rapidly began to melt in the warm sun.

"New girl tried to burn the school down!" someone shouted behind her as a crowd began to form.

"I didn't mean to," she protested.

"New girl is awesome!" another voice added. Guess they weren't angry after all. The crowd began to grow, and Star became a bit nervous. Marco had run off, leaving her alone. She didn't know if school was over, but her tour was clearly done. Time to find her new home.

"Super Sparkle Cloudy!" she summoned the pink cloud and hopped aboard. The crowd shrieked with surprise and approval, and one bespectacled girl fainted as she flew over head.

Cloudy could move rather fast, and so after only a few wrong turns found herself standing in front of a house that felt like the right place. While small, it looked cheerful, with a bright red roof, aqua trim, and a front yard full of cacti and a red dog looking statue. She hesitantly knocked on the door. "Hello? Is this the Diaz house?" she asked. The door opened so quickly Star jumped and raised her wand at the tall man and shorter woman standing in the doorway.

"You must be Princess Star Butterfly," the man declared. She nodded hesitantly, and then yelped as she was swept up in a hug that rivaled her father's. "It is so good to meet you! Come in come in. Mi casa es su casa!" Star didn't understand the last thing he said, but knew it was some other language. _Spamish?_ Mrs. Diaz pried her husband loose and took Star's hand to lead her inside, guiding her to the couch.

"Come in, come in. I'm sure you've had a long day. I'll get you something to drink and nibble on before dinner." Star found herself slightly gobsmacked at both the sheer level of jovial affection the duo radiated and how casually they treated her. Back on Mewni only her parents or a couple of close friends would dare to act so informally around a royal princess. Here, she was being treated more like a long-time family friend. Within moments, she began happily chatting away about all the things she had seen today on Earth around mouthfuls of muffin. _Ooh, blueberry!_

After what felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes of bonding, the front door opened and Marco walked in, perhaps guided by fate. His eyes widened in shock as they met hers. "Oh, Marco, Come meet the new foreign exchange student who is going to be living with us!" Mrs. Diaz told the boy.

"Whaa? What?" his mouth dropped open at seeing Star again. She ran over to him in excitement and took his hand.

"What?" Star asked. "I had no idea these were _your_ parents." As she said it, the familial resemblance became clear and more things fell into place in her head. "I just assumed everybody on Earth had the last name 'Diaz'" she admitted. Except for Jackie Lynn Thomas. _Wait, who?_ That name seemed to make her body tense up slightly.

Mrs. Diaz interrupted her mental ramblings. "Won't it be nice to have Star's upbeat, lively

energy around the house?" she cajoled her son.

"We could have gotten that from a litter of puppies," he grumbled in reply, yanking his hand free. Star gasped at the idea.

"I..._love_...puppies," she declared, before pulling out the wand again. Lovable Laser Labrador Litter! Suddenly at their feet was a rambunctious group of eight adorable little dogs yipping away. Wait, eight? There were eight? Mr. and Mrs. Diaz both cooed over her creation. And then the lovable scamps began to shoot lasers from their eyes. Bolts of ruby light scattered around the room, knocking over a plant and burning small holes in several walls, the ceiling, and Marco in a family photo. _Oops._ Maybe she should put a _bit_ more thought into her spells.

Star cringed internally at the destructive antics and how her hosts would react, and giggled nervously. Mr. Diaz didn't look angry though. "Well, they are really cute," he concluded, picking up one of the puppies to inspect it, and even laughed when a laser caught him in the eye.

All apparently forgiven already, Mrs. Diaz pointed at the trunks containing Star's belongings and gestured to Marco. "Marco, why don't you show Star her new room?" It was one of those parental requests what really wasn't a request, and he sighed. Assuming it was upstairs, Star cheered and raced ahead, with Marco dragging a heavy trunk and the laser puppies behind.

The guest room was not all that hard to find. Somewhat pain, it had all the basic amenities at least. Bed, window, dresser. "Here's your new room," Marco confirmed as he grunted from the effort of dragging her trunk. It was decent accommodations, but Star intended to be a good guest. And a proper guest does not take advantage of thing's like a host's architecture.

"Okay, I can work with this," she decided, moving about to figure out the relationship of each wall to the rest of the house. A bit of concentration... "Sparkle Glitter Bomb Expand!" Her room from Mewni flashed out of the wand and nested itself into the frame of the house, adding an elegant tower. Marco gaped in shock at the transformation. She merely ran over to her bed and flopped down, enjoying the comfortable bounce. "Ahh, that's better," she concluded, duty to improving her host's home complete. And even better, Marco had broken out of his sulk, gazing at wonder at the spiral stairs and various decorations of her room.

"I wish I had a room like this," he said in awe.

"You do?" she asked to confirm. It seemed to be the first time today that Marco was approving of her magical abilities. And she was perfectly willing to do a favor for her best friend. She raced out the door, leaving a confused Marco to catch up behind her.

This was going to be a bit more of a challenge. Her new room had simply been her old one grafted to the house. To make something special for Marco's room, she was going to have to work from scratch. "Mystic room..." she began picturing the spell and what she wanted it to do in her head. Oh, and Marco liked things cleaned and organized, so she should have the spell dust and vacuum while it worked. "...suck transform!" she finished. Marco and the puppies crowded her in the doorway as the blast from the wand struck the center of the room. And instantly went wrong. Instead of an awesome clean fortress of Marco-ness like she planned, a vortex opened up in the center of the floor and everything began to slide towards it. She clutched the doorway as it drew her in as well, and heard Marco begin screaming alongside her. She heard yipping as one of the puppies flew past her, and forced her way back out of the room, slamming the door shut. A quick count. Star, Marco, one two three four five six seven...ooh that explained a lot about the puppy count.

"Suck? Suck! Why was the word suck in that spell?" Marco demanded angrily as he whirled to confront her.

"I don't know," she admitted in a sob. "It just came out that way!" Star just wanted Marco to have an awesome, clean room! Was she really this bad at controlling magic? Marco banged his head into the door in frustration. He was angry, and it was all her fault. Maybe she could make him feel better? "I'm sorry, Marco. Uh, how about a little sunshine to brighten your day?" Sunshine friendship spell was easy enough to cast. It wasn't anything major, just something to put him in a better mood. Somehow though the happy little sun above Marco's head quickly soured and turned into a personal raincloud, drenching the boy. _Seriously?_ "Aww..." she began, before he cut her off with a shout.

"I can't take this anymore! If you are moving in, I am moving out!" he declared, making a break for the window. The raincloud followed him, and soaked hands slipped on the windowsill as he tumbled through. Star gasped and ran to the window as she heard a pained crash. _Please don't be hurt, please don't be hurt._

"Are you okay? she asked the groaning boy.

"Luckily the cactuses broke my fall," he snapped back at her. Star winced as she watched him pick himself free of the spiky plant, clothes now torn and bloody. It was all her fault.

"Do you need any help?" she offered. He shook his head as he picked some spines free of his skin.

"Ow! I'm fine! Just leave me alone!" Marco shouted back at her as he stormed off.

Star watched him take off running with sadness and debated following him. It was her fault his room was gone and he got hurt. She just wanted to make him happy! But all she did was put him in danger, and confess at awkward times or break his heart. Why was this all so confusing? The memories chose that moment to come back in force, and she could picture Marco's face with dozens of different expressions and emotions on it. Somehow she knew they were meant to be together, comrades, friends, more? But where was this all coming from? And how could it possibly be true when the first day she met him, things went this horribly wrong?

Frustrated, she whimpered at the window, torn between watching the boy in the red hoodie run away from her and trying to figure out her own problems. As he ran out of sight, she slumped to the floor next to his door. Tears started falling down her face while the laser puppies crowded around, obliviously happy. It was all too much. She had been to Earth a single day and only known Marco for mere hours, but her head was filling up with what must have been years of memories, far too many to process. Tears continued to fall as she cuddled the puppies closer.

"What's wrong, hija?" a soft voice broke into her sorrow. Through her blurry eyes, Star saw Mrs. Diaz _Angie_ giving her a concerned look. "Are you homesick?" she asked gently.

Star shook her head. "I've messed everything up," she blurted. "I keep remembering things and I don't know how. I keep messing up with my magic so badly Mom and Dad had to send me away. I want Marco to like me and be my best friend, but I scared him and messed up his room and now he ran away," the words came crashing out in a rush. Instead of passing judgment, Mrs. Diaz just took Star's hand and pulled her off the floor into a hug.

"Shh, shh, calm down. It can't be that bad," she soothed the girl. Star relaxed into the embrace and let her tears flow. "You're young and strong, you can get through this."

"I have phone number for teen sadness hotline," Mr. Diaz approached the duo brandishing a paper.

"Honey, no. I've got this," Mrs. Diaz shook her head at her husband.

"Oh. Okay. I'll just put this on wall in kitchen in case then," he retreated.

Finally Star spoke again. "You aren't worried about Marco running away?" she asked his mother.

"Marco will be fine," she soothed the girl. "He probably just needs to cool down. He'll get a slushie and a snack and calm down."

"Are you sure he will be okay? I don't want him to get hurt. And I don't want him to be mad at me anymore. Maybe I should go apologize?" Star asked.

"Just give him a little bit of time first. Are you going to be all right?"

Star shrugged helplessly. "Maybe? I hope so. I'm sorry for all the trouble I am causing you."

"Don't worry about it, Star, dear. Now, do you think you can take care of yourself for a little bit? We were going to cook a welcome dinner, but it might be a while before Marco comes home. Would you like some pizza instead?"

Star nodded. "I'm not sure what that is, but it sounds good."

"Well, Marco likes extra mushrooms on his, but he isn't here to help decide is he," Mrs. Diaz gave a conspiratorial grin, and Star gave a watery back. "We also need to get some supplies for the puppies. Will they eat normal kibble, or do you have to make some magical chow for them?"

"It's really hard to make food that you can eat with magic," Star informed her, shuddering from experience. "And I'm not exactly the best at magic yet either," she added honestly.

"Well, we were told you would need to practice. Just be safe sweetie," Mrs. Diaz told her. Star nodded in agreement. She was finally calmed down, at least for now. Satisfied, Mrs. Diaz let her be. "Rafe, time to go to the store and Emilio's!" she called as she went down the stairs.

Now alone with the puppies, Star finally had time to process the events of the day. Whatever is/was/will be going on between her and Marco was irrelevant right now. As far as he was concerned, they had just met and she had showed off some dangerous magic before sucking his room into the void. Step one, she was going to have to make amends. Maybe the room wasn't completely a lost cause.

Carefully, she turned the handle on the sealed door and peered inside. The vortex was gone, but so was everything else. Bare walls and windows, nothing more. Pulling out the wand, she cleared her mind and focused on what she wanted the spell to do. "Mystic Room Un-suck Restore!" Nothing. "Mystic Room Restore Before!" Nothing. "Magic Make This Room Right Again!" Also nothing. This might take a while.

Star only took a break when the Diaz's returned home with food. Her stomach rumbled as she caught the scent of warm cheese, and discovered the joy of pizza. Sliced into triangles and topped with melted cheese and little round meats, it was delicious. _Triangle Earth food is the best food!_ Marco's parents made sure to save some slices for him, but otherwise did not seem greatly concerned. Taking her cues from them, Star thanked them for dinner and returned to her task.

The sun was setting as she finally accomplished her goal. "Mystic Marco's Furniture Return!" she shouted, and the wand flared with light. A vortex returned, but this time instead of pulling things in, it dumped all of the lost furniture into a pile on the floor before vanishing. It was a little worse for wear, admittedly, but it was back. As much of it as she could recall at least. Putting the wand away, she began to right dressers and shelves and shove them back into place manually. Magic would have been far faster and easier, but she wasn't taking that risk again tonight.

Night had fully fallen once she was satisfied with her work. Everything was at least close to where it should be. Star didn't even give into the urge to look through the various drawers and cabinets, though she did spend a while debating claiming a clean red hoodie from his closet. They smelled like Marco, but fortunately not _too_ _much_ like him. It was too soon to do that, however, and she left it behind. Something told her she would have other chances. _Next step._

Star wandered downstairs to find Mr. and Mrs. Diaz curled up together on the couch, watching a looky-talky box. "Is Marco back yet?" she asked them. Mr. Diaz shook his head.

"Not yet. He'll come back when he is ready to," he told her calmly. Wow. Earth must really be safe if his parents were so carefree about him running off and staying out so late. Her own mother had tried to insist that Star have a guard in the room with her while taking a bath. Clearly they loved their son, but she could also recall Marco once telling her that they were very absent and that he had been raised by TV. It made her feel bad for the boy. On the plus side, not only were the memories starting to get clearer, but they were starting to have more context.

"Do you know where he is?" Star asked, starting to get worried.

"Dante at the Stop & Slurp called about an hour ago and said he is still there. Had to kick him out for getting the floor wet somehow, but he was still hanging out outside," Mrs. Diaz explained. Star was relieved that they were at least keeping track of their son. She was also envious about how much they trusted him to do his own thing.

"I think I should apologize to him now," she decided. Mr. Diaz sat up.

"Do you want a ride?" he offered.

"Do you have to? Is it far?" Star replied, curious about both the distance and the degree of freedom on offer. Marco might be free to wander on his own terms, but a princess boarder might not be so lucky.

"Only a few blocks into town," he replied. She didn't know what a block was.

"Is that far?"

"It's about a twenty minute walk, or a few minute drive," he explained.

I'm the one that made him run away. I think I need to be the one to talk to him," she concluded. Hopefully they would let her.

"Do you think your parents would want you to go on your own?" Mrs. Diaz asked. Well, no, they wouldn't. But Star's parents weren't here to tell her no, and she needed to do this. She didn't want to lie however, so instead she hefted her wand.

"I can take care of myself," she deflected. Still, the adults hesitated, until Star gave them some of her best pleading eyes.

"Please be careful, and stay out of the street," Mrs. Diaz gave in. Her husband drew Star a little map how to get to her destination and back, and then she was out the door and on her way. With the sun down and a gentle breeze, the night felt rather nice. She started walking and found the way familiar, to the point she put the map in her purse. Her legs and feet seemed to know the way, so Star was free to enjoy the night air and let her thoughts wander.

It had been a busy day to cap a busy few weeks, no, months. Ever since the day Star celebrated her birthday and was given the wand, she felt like she was living two lives, one as each day passed and one in the past. It could be a trick or curse, but Star doubted it. The visions/memories were too real. They had the taste of her own emotions and thoughts imbued in them. They were too deep, too personal for someone else to have created them. There _was_ one person who could have done it to her though, and that was Star herself. Magic was weird. She knew a little bit about time magic thanks to glancing through the Magic Instruction Book, but the general gist of time spells was 'don't.'

It was the most reasonable explanation that she could think of. Somehow Star had given herself memories or visions of her life in the future. But why? If it was to send a message, she didn't know what it was. Like most memories, they weren't neatly filed in order to be viewed at will, but instead triggered by context. She wished she could just picture what was about to happen when she spoke with Marco, but while other thoughts about the boy and snippets of adventures and conversations flashed past, her immediate future seemed foggy.

Star was going to have to do what she dreaded. She was going to have to study and make a plan. She had the general sense that there were now a couple extra years of memories stuffed inside her head. There had to be a reason for it. Priorities then.

First, Try to make some sense of the memories and what they might mean. Time could be messy, and something told her that her usual style of jumping in with both feet might not be the best idea.

Second, do it quietly. Star was already exiled from Mewni for making a mess of things with magic. She didn't want anyone to think she had gone off her rocker completely.

Third, try to make things better. Despite a lack of details, Star could tell that she had _would have?_ a number of regrets, sorrows, terrors, and tragedies. What would be the point of giving herself these memories if she didn't try to use them to make things better?

And fourth, Marco. _Oh, Marco_. Her chest tightened. She had only met him today, but more than anything, Star _needed_ him. It wasn't a single memory, but a general feeling that she belonged to him, and he to her, a feeling deep and complex enough that it honestly scared Star to fully comprehend or even put a name to. A second feeling competed with the first, sometimes merging and sometimes conflicting- Marco's safety and happiness were paramount, and she would pay any price.

For now, the latter urge won out. It was a far simpler concept for Star to grasp right now, especially given how they had only met today. She had no right to expect him to act or think or feel a certain way. She didn't know how to act or feel herself, and he didn't have the same baggage in his head that she did now. They were basically strangers, despite what her head insisted. Marco safe and happy was thus a _need_. Marco by her side had to be a _want_ instead.

Speaking of the boy, there he was. Or more correctly, here she was, at the Stop & Slurp. The raincloud still poured water on his head as he accosted several people going into and out of the shop, and Star winced at the idea of how soggy his socks must be by now. Quietly she walked over to him, but wasn't sure how to begin, what to say. Her new and old memories about today seem to have merged, so she assumed that things were turning out the same, but she really wished she could remember what she said to make it better.

Before Star could say anything, Marco turned around and saw her, jumping back in surprise. "Waha! Whoa! What are you doing here?" he demanded angrily once the shock wore off. Still trying to come up with the right words, she aimed her wand and dispelled the failed cheer spell. He flinched, but the cloud faded, and he was finally freed of the constant downpour. His body let up some of its tension, but Marco's expression was still angry. He was right to be. Star had come along and his life wasn't going to be the same anymore.

"I didn't get a choice about coming here to Earth," she admitted softly, "and you didn't get a choice about having to deal with me." Maybe this was for the best. Maybe he was better off without her. Flickers of Marco's face looking sad, or angry, or heartbroken assaulted her, but she shoved the memories down. Now wasn't the time. Nor could she deal with the feeling that she had faced losing him before, though in different circumstances. _Marco safe, Marco happy._ Star resolved, a semi-familiar mantra. It even seemed to be in order of priorities, but that also was a memory to analyze later. Apparently the painful thoughts showed on her face, and his anger seemed to fade. "I'll...I'll find another family to live with," she concluded. Part of her was screaming not to let him go. She ignored it. _Marco safe, Marco happy._

His expression softened even more, and he opened his mouth to speak. Before any words could come out, there was a ripping noise from behind Star. Marco's eyes shifted past her and widened in shock. "St...Star?" She spun around and saw that they had been joined by a gang of ferocious beasts from Mewni. At the fore was a diminutive green bird-creature adorned with a dragoncycle skull and armed with a bat winged staff. Though they had not met before, she knew this was the châtelain of Castle Avarius.

"Star Butterfly, at last I've found you!" he proclaimed grandly.

"Ludo! How did you know I was here?" she demanded in return. How he had gotten there and why were much simpler questions. Practically all of Mewni knew that the pint-sized prince desired the Royal Wand. And clearly he had access to a pair of dimensional scissors meaning that Earth was clearly less safe than her parents had likely hoped. The thought didn't really bother her, she could take care of herself. It did harden her resolve to separate from Marco, for his safety at least.

"Wouldn't you like to know!" he chuckled in reply.

"Yes! That's why I asked!" Star said. He may be here to steal her wand, but he didn't have to be _rude_. Taken aback at her response, Ludo blinked.

"Well, Buff Frog..." He started to explain, before blinking again. "Wait, I don't have to tell you anything! GET HER!" he shouted to his minions. Star swept a leg back and raised her wand in a fighting stance as the monsters roared and prepared to charge. Warthog was the fastest. Star prepared to unleash a spell when Marco leapt in front of her, right into the face of the charging beast.

"HI YAH" he shouted a battle cry as the boy rapidly hammered a fist into the monsters gut and chin, followed by a spinning kick that floored the monster.

"Woah oh oh," Star chuckled, impressed. "You can fight?" _Well, duh, it's Marco!_ Of course he could fight. She was a little in awe with how he had floored a charging monster in under a second with bare hands and one bare foot. Humans supposedly lacked the extra strength, speed, and durability that life in a magical realm granted Mewmans, It made the boy's talents even more impressive. As a bonus, for the first time today, Marco's eyes lit up with excitement and pride.

"It's called kar-a-te" he said smugly while a chop to the side of the head spun Bearicorn past them into a heap. With an unspoken agreement, he charged to the right to handle the monsters trying to flank them, while Star faced off with Beard Deer ahead. A quick kick to the stomach and the monsters heavy hammer swing ended up clobbering himself in the head. Before he could recover, she nailed him with a quick blast from the wand as Marco dipped a shoulder and flipped Potato Baby, sending him flying.

"You said she was unguarded!" Ludo complained to Buff Frog, who could only shrug as the teen duo demolished his gang.

Star caught the eye of Giraffnik as Marco split his attacks between the heads of Conjoinican. As the towering monster lumbered her way, she decided she needed more height. A parked car provided an ideal springboard as she leapt for her foes neck past his grasping fists. A rainbow fist punch from close range hammered him into the car she had used as a boost, while Marco maneuvered a recovered Warthog facefirst into an opened door. The duo rejoined, and a combination of his fists and her wand blasted or redirected several charging monsters.

"You're embarrassing me!" Ludo continued to shout at his minions, narrowly avoiding a thrown Buff Frog. The green monster reached up and tore down a light pole before returning to the fray. While he was charging with a massive metal club, Star felt oddly hesitant to actually hurt Buff Frog. Instead she went with Jellybean Hallucination Mist, causing him to drop the pole and stagger away dazed, staring at his hands.

Suddenly, Star found herself flying in pain as Big Chicken and Potato Baby managed to catch her unaware. Beside her, Marco also lay on the pavement groaning. They both sprang back to their feet quickly but she could hear Marco breathing heavily and getting kicked in the face _hurt_. Marco cleared the two aggressors with a kick, but it was time to end this. Bracing her feet, she gripped the wand with both hands and concentrated. "MEGA NARWHAL BLAST!"

The wave of magic and marine mammals flattened the gang, though Ludo's short stature let him escape unscathed. Star walked over to the sinister prince and aimed the wand at him. "Do you want some of _this_, Ludo?" she taunted.

"No," he decided, folding with an annoyed huff. He pulled out a wicked looking pair of dimensional scissors and sliced open a portal back to Mewni, berating his battered gang as they piled through. "I'll get you, Star Butterfly!" he vowed as the portal collapsed, though the parting words were undercut by the portal knocking his dragoncycle helm off his head as it closed.

Star basked in the victory as Marco ran over to her, still caught up in the adrenaline. "That was amazing! I was Amazing! You were amazing!" he babbled in a rush.

"Yeah, I guess we were," Star agreed. It was a little breathtaking how well he handled his first fight against monsters. She idly wondered if his strength and skill in battle would translate to dancing. Unfortunately, the brawl had only been a distraction from the important topic. Or had it? She had been planning on leaving him be, but this changed things. His opinion of her seemed much improved now. Marco could clearly take care of himself by her side and he was practically bouncing with excitement still. That checked off her mental needs. Marco safe, Marco happy. Would it be so bad is she moved on to some of her _want_ list?

Deliberately, she added a slump to her shoulders and some wistfulness to her voice. "Well... I should probably go pack my bags," she told him and slowly walked away from him. Only moments later, she heard his footsteps and felt a restraining hand on her shoulder. _Yes!_

"Wait!" He told her. "I don't want you to go. I want you to stay with us." She couldn't hide the wide smile at his decision.

"Really?" she chirped, before giving into another urge. "Hugs!" Star declared, wrapping herself around him. He tensed for a moment, but then she felt his arms wrap around her as well. It felt right, but he was still buzzing and quickly let go, throwing his hands out in a combat pose and making sound effects.

"Are there going to be monsters attacking us all the time?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah, probably," Star admitted. Dimensional scissors, her presence on Earth not a secret, magic wand of unimaginable power, memories confirming this was not a one-off...she was pretty sure. Mom and Dad were not going to be thrilled. Her first day, and already attacked. On the plus side, she had managed to keep control of her magic the entire fight. And was still basically unharmed besides that one hit. She started back to the Diaz house as Marco walked alongside.

"All right! Sounds so dangerous!" he enthused, before grabbing her arm as she was about to cross the road. "Whoa! Let's cross at the light," he guided her towards a corner with clear safety markings. She rolled her eyes at him, but didn't resist.

"Okay, wild man," she teased, and he grinned back at her. Impulsively, she grabbed his hand in her own. He looked surprised, she just gave him a mischievous smirk and nodded at the street, making like she was going to fall off the curb without him. His warm grip stayed, and her wand let out a happy fish firework which sparkled in the sky above them. _Whoops_. At least he didn't jump at the magical burst, nor let go of her hand. Finally he freed his hand from hers and returned to reenacting the fight as they walked.

Star had a short lifetime of combat experience and was already beginning to relax, but Marco still clearly had energy to burn. "I'll race you to the house!" she offered.

"You're on!" Marco replied confidently, but Star broke into a sprint. "Cheater!" he laughed as he raced after her. She could have been off in a flash, but that wasn't the point. They were bonding, and burning off the last of their adrenaline. She let him close the distance and as the house came into sight slowed to let him take the lead. He was still pretty fast, especially for only wearing one shoe still. "I win!" he shouted as he tapped the door several steps ahead of her, so she stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed.

Entering the house, Marco's parents didn't appear to have moved from their snuggle on the couch, though they had acquired a blanket in the time she had been gone. "Welcome home, sweetheart," Mrs. Diaz called out, though her eyes widened as she took in Marco's torn clothing and disheveled appearance. "Are you okay?" she asked him, concerned. The boy froze at the question.

"I'm...I'm fine. There was a...I mean I...we..." he trailed off, not sure how to describe what just happened.

"It was just a little monster attack. Happens to me all the time," Star said in a carefully casual tone. "Not a big deal." She poked the boy and gave a proud smile. "Actually, Marco kept me safe. He's a good friend," she declared.

"You're not hurt?" his father asked.

"I'm fine, dad. Well, actually...I lost a shoe." Marco added and blushed. Star snorted in amusement at the shameful expression he wore for his admission. "Hey! I liked these shoes!" he countered, and the mood lightened.

"Still, Star, should we warn your parents? We are supposed to keep you safe," Mrs. Diaz asked.

Star wrapped an arm around Marco and pulled him close. "Marco kept me safe. It's no big. I'll tell them next time I talk to them, I promise," she said. His parent's didn't look fully convinced, but let it go with a nod. They were awesome! "I am getting a little tired," she admitted with a yawn. Marco yawned too, and then scowled at her like she had caused it. Maybe yawns were contagious on Earth?

"I'll show you the bathroom upstairs, then I'm going to pack it in. It _is_ pretty late, and school tomorrow. It's best to get plenty of rest to be prepared to learn." Well, looked like 'Wild Man Marco' had worn off. It was an oddly anti-climactic finish for such a busy day, but she yawned again.

"Usually when we are hosting an exchange student, we draw up a bathroom schedule since we will have to share," Marco explained as he led her up the stairs. He gestured at a door in the hallway between their two separate rooms. "It's late, so we can figure that out tomorrow. You can have it first if you want," he offered. She nodded thankfully and walked into the room before stopping in dismay.

"Where's the bath?" she asked plaintively. "And the chamberpot? I kind of need to use it," Star admitted hesitantly.

"Chamberpot? Why would we have a chamberpot?" Marco asked in confusion.

"To pee and make boom boom," she replied, "duh!"

"Just use the toilet."

"What's a toilet?" she wondered. Marco frowned.

"You don't know what a toilet is? You're a princess, did you live in a castle?" he asked. She nodded.

"Butterfly Castle, yes."

"So you lived in a castle with actual magic, but no indoor plumbing." He seemed dumbfounded. "Err, ok. Crash course then." He walked past her into the room, over to a small white chair. "Toilet. Lift the lid, do your business, push the handle to flush when you are done." He demonstrated. The water swirled with a whoosh and vanished, before slowly reappearing.

"Where does the water go? she asked.

"Down the drain and away," Marco shrugged. Next he walked over to the other side of the room. "Sink. Right handle is cold water, left handle is hot water." A quick twist, and water appeared, another twist and it stopped. This was even better than wall magic!

"But what about the bath?" she asked. At this, Marco looked a bit sheepish.

"I, uhh, don't really like baths, so there's just a shower. It works just like the sink, left is hot, right is cold. use both to make it the right temperature." He didn't explain further, but this time memories provided enough added detail that she could figure it out.

"Why is it called a bathroom if there is no bath," she continued to wonder.

"It's just a name, we call it all sorts of things on Earth."

"Ohhhh." She didn't get it. She yawned again, and Marco started for the door. "If you have any trouble, just shout and Mom can come help. I'll be in my room..." he trailed off with a stricken look. "My room is gone. I don't have a room anymore."

"Oh that. I fixed it. Your stuff is back, and I tried to get it in the right places." He looked relieved but suspicious still. "Now scoot. I need to use the toy-let. That got him moving.

With Marco gone and the door shut, Star took care of herself. Like a lot of things today, once she picked up something, future memories started filling in the blanks. She may have flushed the toilet a few times more than needed to marvel at it, and luxuriated in a shower so warm that her skin turned red after sputtering as it tried to drown her at first, but made it through without incident. She magicked her night gown from her closet to wear and then knocked on the door to Marco's room to let him know the bathless room was free.

He thanked her, but a few moments later when she heard the shower turn on he yelped. "STAR! You used up all the hot water!" Eh. She was tired. She would figure out how to make or buy some more hot water to replace it later. She back flopped onto her bed and barely curled up in a cocoon of fluffy pillows before her eyes shut and sleep enveloped her.

* * *

A/N. No beta for this. Any errors and overuse of commas are my own. Speaking of errors, I've been going through the timeline and episodes, and cannot figure out Star's birthday and how it works. After looking at the timeline and info from the show and books, my only conclusion is that Star celebrates far earlier in the year than Stump Day, and both she and Marco were only 13 at the start of the series. The timeframes of Just Friends and Gift of the Card also cause a ton of trouble, so they may need to be adjusted to make things make sense. Maybe someone else has figured it out?

I've also come to love some of the various fan comics by people like moringmark, pumacita, dm29 and others. I will be adding the occasional reference or joke from them to the story. None in this chapter, but I'll note it when it happens.


	3. New Friends and Old

This time, the cracking noise that penetrated the black fog sounded louder and less polite somehow. "Urg," Star groaned as she transitioned from blissful sleep to grumpy wakefulness. "Five more minutes, Manfred," she pleaded.

"Umm, It's Marco," a voice replied, far younger than the family butler normally sent to waken her. "You need to get up if you want to have enough time for breakfast and get ready for school," he continued. Star sat up in her bed and pouted at the door, though he wouldn't see it. Why did things start so early on Earth? She had been in the middle of a dream. Star, Marco, and her father had been searching for Queen Moon for some reason, and then she was making pies with her mother, and there was a monkey, and a volcano...dreams were weird.

"I'm awake," she called to the door. Star stretched to loosen her muscles, still sore from the fight the previous day. The shower had gotten her clean, but it could hardly compare with a good long soak for loosening muscles after combat.

Outside her windows, the sun was barely creeping above the horizon. Why did school have to start so early she had to rise with the sun? Still, there was an offer of breakfast, and she was curious to see what it included. Maybe more muffins? She traipsed downstairs to find that indeed there were more of the blueberry muffins on the counter and snatched one happily, before joining Marco at the table. He was eating from a bowl of pellets, and next to him was a box with a bird on the front. _Sugar seeds?_ Was he eating animal food?

Marco was already dressed, though the only way she could tell they were new clothes was the lack of tears and stains on his black pants and red hoodie. Come to think of it, did he wear anything else? Even in the future memories she could access, she couldn't picture him in anything else. Actually, she could even picture herself in the same red hoodie. _Huh._

They didn't speak as they finished breakfast, but at least it was a casual silence rather than an uncomfortable one. Finally, after several glances at the clock, Marco spoke up. "Uhh, Star? We have to go soon if we want to catch the bus. You need to get dressed."

"Sure, sure, sure," she agreed around a mouthful of her third muffin. They were _really_ good. "Radiant Raiment Transform!" she cast on herself. She was a little curious about what her outfit would look like, not having a specific look in mind. Looking down, she was rather satisfied with the result. Darker green than yesterday, her new dress was sleeveless with stripes of color across her chest and a small bear on the hem. Like before, it was finished off with striped leggings and boots, today with bunnies on the toes.

Unfortunately it didn't do anything for her hair, so Star just grimaced and pulled it back before donning her horned headband. Who'd have thought she would actually miss the handmaids. Brushing her own hair took _so _long, and she didn't think she would need to be awake this early.

Looking back up, Marco was staring at her, eyes wide.

"Did you just make clothes out of magic?" he asked.

"Yup. Pretty easy to do. Even _I_ haven't messed up this spell yet." She inspected the bear more closely. "His name is Edgar," she decided.

"Your dress is alive?" Marco wondered with a confused look.

"No, it's just a cute bear. He needed a name."

"Right," he replied with a wary expression.

The trip to the school was an uneventful one once Star got past her nervousness about the size and noises made by the massive yellow bus. Once aboard, she plastered her face up against the window and watched the terrain pass by outside. All too soon, they were back in the same halls she had walked yesterday, and would many times later. Idly, she flipped her wand in the air and caught it as she asked the question that had been bugging her all morning. "Do you wear anything that's not a red hoodie?" she asked Marco. He just shrugged in reply.

"I like red, I like hoodies, so I bought a dozen of them." Well, if he had that many, he probably wouldn't miss one or two...

"Hey, it's that magic girl!" someone shouted as they approached a knot of students crowding around lockers and chatting. A series of friendly greetings came her way, which Star returned cheerily. It really was nice how friendly people on Earth were.

"Hi new friends, hi!" She turned to her partner. "Everyone's so cool here, Marco. It makes me wish my parents had tossed me out of the castle years ago!" Being treated just like a normal teenager was refreshing, instead of constant royal deference or dynastic politicking expected of any potential companions back on Mewni.

"Oh, you haven't even met the coolest guys," he assured her. He waved further down the hall and she saw a pair of boys waved back. One was bespectacled and scrawny, with curly brown hair and a wide smile. The other was a short redhead who was far wider than his companion.

"Uh, are they behind the guys waving at you?" she wondered. Marco gave her an aside glance at the uncharacteristic insult, not sure if she was serious or not. Truthfully, Star wasn't sure either. Something was telling her not to trust them.

"Trust me. Would I hang out with anyone who wasn't awesome?" Marco assured her as they walked over.

"Hey, Marco!" the tall one greeted with a hand slap gesture too quick and complex for Star to figure out. The short one stared at her for a moment, before lifting up his shirt.

"And who is this pretty little lady you have with you?" a giant colorful face asked from his stomach. _MONSTER!_ Her reflexes snapped to life and she jumped back with a squawk, raising her wand in a two handed stance.

"Woah! Star! It's fine!" Marco shouted as he slid between the charging glow of the wand and the massive face. "It's just Ferguson! Not a monster!"

"Are you sure?" she demanded, looking past him at the short boy now cringing in fear.

"It's fine, it's just paint. He tries this with all the girls." Marco soothed. Star became aware of eyes turning to stare and lowered the wand sheepishly, letting the magic fade from it. "Star, Ferguson and Alfonzo," he introduced the short and tall boys respectively. "Guys, this is Star Butterfly. She's from...far away, and the new exchange student staying at my house." With Marco vouching for both sides, the ice quickly broke.

"Wow, is that a Space Sailor deluxe prop wand? I love that show!" Alfonzo declared, peering excitedly at the instrument that had nearly blasted his friend a moment before.

"What? No, it's the Butterfly wand, a family heirloom for generations!" she replied.

"Guys, Star is an actual princess with actual magic. Her parents sent her to Earth and she's staying with me." Marco explained. Evidently he realized that trying to make up a story about where she was from was going to be pointless, and just dove right in.

"You're just messing with us!" Ferguson said disbelievingly.

"Raspberry Ribbon Lasso!" Star cast, sending a coiling crimson tendril from her wand to grab a wad of paper on the floor and toss it into a nearby trash can.

"Woah!" All three boys watched in awe.

"That was awesome!" Ferguson was delighted. "Is the wand magic, or are you using magic through the wand?" Alfonzo asked. _Why does he want to know?_ Quiet alarms were ringing, but she still didn't know why. They seemed harmless enough. She tried to remember something about them, hoping maybe to have an answer. Nothing. Well, something vaguely to do with a centaur, but nothing of use. She didn't even have the sense that there was more hiding out of reach. Odd, since they seemed to be Marco's friends.

They continued to bombard Star with questions about magic faster than she could even get the chance to answer, many of them referring to various shows and stories they had watched. Marco looked up at the clock, and suddenly herded them off to the side of the hall, Star included. "Hang on, it's time!"

"Marco, what?" she asked, before being shushed by Alfonzo.

Marco moved over to a particular locker and leaned against it, striking a deliberately casual pose. From the other end of the hall, a clacking whir preceded the arrival of a girl on a wheely board. A lip in the hall should have made her stumble, but a quick kick and she flew over it, board spinning underneath her before making a perfect landing. Her mint eyes were piercing but relaxed, and Star envied her smooth grace and curvy form. Platinum blonde hair with a streak of aqua flowed from beneath her helmet, leaving Star acutely aware of how disheveled her own mane was this morning. As she passed by, Marco gave her a single confident nod which the girl returned. Then she turned the corner the corner and the moment was over.

"Jackie..." Marco said in a besotted tone, as his eyes glazed over. _Jackie? Jackie! Oh, no!_ Her stomach clenched, and a confused mix of memories seemed to answer. Marco nodding at Jackie, again and again. Star pushing Marco to talk to her. Star and Jackie hanging out, trading gossip. Inviting her to a sleepover. All three of them singing along to music. After that, explosions, fights with Ludo, tears. A depressed Marco, and Star herself frustrated and angry. But no more Jackie. Did something happen to her? Was that why Star felt so much sorrow and frustration in what seemed to be mostly happy memories? What other explanation could there be?

A hand waving in front of her face startled her back to attention. "I said, what is your first class?" Marco asked. The hall seemed to have emptied, and even Alfonzo and Ferguson had left.

"How would I know?" she asked, Jackie thoughts shoved aside by immediate practicalities. "Aren't you my guide? Shouldn't you know?"

"Didn't you get a class schedule when you were registered?" Oh. That must have been during the boring part of the meeting yesterday she had tuned out. _Oh, Stump!_ The realization struck her that maybe the reason she was having so many problems with her future memories was that future Star had been just as bad at paying attention thus never bothered to remember in the first place. "Star!" This time the waving hand moved on to poking her in the shoulder. "Schedule?"

"Umm, I think I have it somewhere?" she hoped. There _had_ been some papers given to her that she had stuffed in her purse unread. Now where were they? She reached in to rummage through her little star bag. How had she filled it with so much junk already? Star only had the thing a day!

"I don't want to be late to class, Star," Marco insisted. "It's bad for your permanent record!"

"Relax, bad boy," a girls voice cut in as another hand reached into Star's purse and deftly snatched a paper free. The hand belonged to a dark haired girl in a slightly grungy green jacket and roughly knit hat who quickly studied the paper. "Hmm. English first period, geography second, math, art...looks like she basically has the same schedule as you do, Marco." The boy looked half astonished and half annoyed. Well that made things simpler if her guide was in all the same classes as she was.

"Wha...hey...huh? How did you know my schedule?" Marco demanded with a huff.

The girl just waved off the question. "Please. It's me." She turned to Star and handed her the schedule. "I'm Janna by the way." She held out a hand, but unsure what to do with it Star waved in response.

"I'm Star. I'm new here- an _exchange student._" She enunciated the words to make sure she said them correctly. Janna cocked her head, studying her for a moment before giving a small smile.

"You're also the magic girl who almost burned this place down yesterday. That's cool. I like you."

"Janna..." Marco began to growl.

"Right, right, class starting. See you two in third, and seventh periods." The girl strutted casually down the hall.

"Who _are_ you?" Star wondered. Janna at least seemed familiar, a semi-common element in her memories, but did she ever really _know_ the girl? Did anyone?

"I'm just your spooooky new friend and the future ex-Mrs. Diaz," she shot over her shoulder in reply and kept walking.

"What?" Star asked flatly.

"I've known Janna forever," Marco grumbled. "She's just... Janna. Always has been. It's best to just ignore what she says. You'll get used to it. Mostly." He grabbed Star's hand and started leading her down a cross hall. "Come on, we can just make it on time!"

An hour later, Star had long since realized why she must have tuned out so much. Earth school was so _boring._ English was somehow functionally interchangeable with Modern Mewmantongue. There had to be magic involved to keep the languages the same between the dimensions. But instead of learning about that and maybe solving a mystery, Mr. Frasier was going over metaphor and simile in a book she would have had to read had she been on Earth for more than a day. Blech. Star had never taken to the subtle intricacies of language that the Butterfly side of her family delighted in. Allegories, parables, and analogies tended to just confuse and frustrate her. She was too much of a daddy's girl when it came to the subject. People should just say what they mean and mean what they say, as River had taught her.

Second period at least made up for it. Once she had picked a desk, Star had been given a massive book with a picture of a blue ball on the scuffed up cover. Opening it up, she began to beam happily. It was full of maps! One of the few royal duties she had actually enjoyed was when the rolls of musty paper encompassing the realms of Mewni were unrolled to be updated with news of border conflicts, new alliances, seasonal migrations, and other important news about the kingdom. The ones in the book before her were small but incredibly detailed and precise. Various versions showed different information from kingdom borders, to terrain, to populations. So many people! She flipped through, gazing in wonder at pictures of sun kissed rocky canyons, vast forests of kelp, huge ranges of snowcapped mountains, and human cities with buildings that could compete with Butterfly castle in reaching for the sky. All too soon, Marco was tapping on her shoulder, telling her class was over. Star had protested, but once he explained that the book was hers for the entire school year, she hugged it close to her chest and followed him to their next shared class.

Third period was math, taught by a cranky old woman named Miss Skullnick. The name and voice were familiar, but the teacher just looked _wrong_ somehow. The subject was boring, but at least there was a cute little hamster to watch instead. He would sniff around with his cute little nose, and then squeak, and then run on his little wheel, which just kept spinning and spinning and spinning and...the bell rang. Star snapped out of her daze.

Next was art class. After many, many reprimands for doodling during lessons on Mewni, or adding drawings to the Royal Spellbook instead of new spells, it felt strange to be told that all she was supposed to do for the next hour was take a piece of paper, some pens or paint or little color wax sticks, and express herself. She started by doodling a few of her usual designs, stars and butterflies and hearts before moving on to trying to draw one of the laser puppies. That turned out okay by her reckoning, so she decided to draw something more complex. Tongue stuck out between her teeth in concentration, she tried to capture the essence of Marco in her work. What she ended up with would not be hung on the walls of any royal castle with other portraits, but Star was pleased with her rendition with the boy's red hoodie, wide smile, and ka-ra-tee pose. It turned out Marco had a similar idea, and when he showed Star his sketch of her, clearly done with effort though her nose was too pointy and here eyes too far apart. They both laughed at their mutual efforts. Shortly after, the bell rang.

"Lunch time," he announced before she could ask what the next class was. They made it down the halls towards the cafeteria unmolested by teens rushing back and forth or chatting in small knots. All except for one girl who stared intently as Star as she walked by, eyes wide and breathing heavily. It was the fainting girl from yesterday. Marco saw the attention the other girl was giving Star and shrugged it off. "That's just BethanyFan13," he said. "She's harmless," he added dismissively. Well that wasn't very nice. She frowned at the boy and then turned to the other girl and gave a wide smile and wave. BethanyFan turned red in a blush, squeaked, and ran off in the opposite direction.

"I like her," Star decided aloud.

"You seem to like everyone," Marco retorted.

"Why not? Even strangers are just friends you haven't met yet," she countered.

"That can be a dangerous way to think," the boy warned. You need to do due diligence before trusting anyone," he added.

"Pfah, that's too much work. Everyone deserves a chance to be liked and treated fairly,"

"And if you are wrong?" Marco wondered. Star just hefted her wand before spinning it in the air and catching it again.

"If anyone tries to cause trouble with me, I can just zap 'em with a narwhal," she said smugly.

"Like Luddy yesterday?" Marco smiled.

"Ludo. OK, maybe monsters can't be trusted," she amended, though the confidence behind that assertation wavered a bit.

"Stop being such a party-pooper!" Arms wrapped around both Star and Marco's shoulder as Janna reappeared between the duo suddenly, having followed them from math. "How about I show her around a bit and give you a rest," she offered with a wink. The boy started to protest but Janna silenced him. "Bup bup bup, don't worry, She'll be safe with me. Well, safe-ish."

"Sure," Star agreed. "That sounds like fun." Marco gave star a helpless look.

"You don't know what you are getting into," he warned.

"I'm on Earth. I still don't know anything I'm getting into," she smirked.

"Yeah, like your next class after lunch," Marco riposted.

"Gym." Janna informed him. "Right after lunch too, that sucks. I feel bad for you two. Now relax, I'll have Princess Charming back before she turns into a pumpkin. Let her spread her wings a bit. I got this." she gave him a gentle push away.

"See you later Marco!" Star told him as he accepted defeat and headed off towards Alfonzo and Ferguson. "Spread my wings?" Star asked Janna. "I don't have any wings yet!"

"It's just an expression. Means let you be your own person without someone telling what to do." Well, that sounded _really_ nice actually. Not often that a royal princess got that chance. But what about... "You won't actually turn into a pumpkin, either. That one is a movie reference." Janna beat Star to her next question before a frown crossed her face. "Wait, you said you don't have wings _yet,_" it was Janna's turn to question. "What do you mean _yet_?"

"Well, I'm Mewman, and after I go through...growing up a bit more, I'll grow a pair of wings. Part of being a Princess." Janna's eyes lit up at the explanation.

"Oh that is so cool! I _knew_ I would like you! Come on, lets grab some grub and you can tell me everything!" They grabbed trays and approached the counter where little trays held food that looked...non-descript...to be polite. It smelled exotic to Star's palate, and it was certainly better quality than peasant fare, but nothing was triangular so she didn't have high hopes. Janna saw her expression and pointed at several selections. "Pizza, fries, salad. It's school lunch, nothing pretty, but hot sauce helps a lot."

Star followed her advice, even though her eyes watered at the scent of spicy liquid from the red bottle the other girl handed her. She put a few cautious drops on the various selections while Janna emptied probably half the bottle onto her own tray. They moved along to the end of the line where Janna handed some paper to the lunch seller. Then it was Star's turn. "Umm," she stammered. She didn't have any Earth money, she hadn't thought that far ahead.

"I don't have all day here," the cashier told her impatiently.

"No, wait, I have something." Star dug into her purse and pulled out one of the coins she had scavenged from the principal's loot yesterday and handed it over. It glittered as the cashier flipped it over and looked at it, confused. It was a relatively low denomination, with a bust of Queen Festivia on the face and an ear of corn on the reverse, but it should cover it. Food couldn't be that expensive here.

"What is this? Canadian money or something?" the cashier asked her suspiciously.

"It's a Festy," Star tried to explain. At the blank look of the cashier, she clarified. "It's a Mewni crown. It should cover the cost of a basic meal."

"So not Canadian? Well, either way, I can't take this."

"But I don't have any Earth money paper!" Star protested.

"I got this," Janna stepped in, eyes locked on the glittering coin. She handed over a couple more papers to the cashier who seemed satisfied before handing the crown to Janna who held it gingerly. The girl continued to stare at it for a moment as they collected their trays before handing it back to Star.

"Is that actual gold?" Janna seemed awestruck.

"Of course! It's a crown! What else would it be made out of? Why, does gold not work as money here?"

"No, no, no, well, not exactly" Janna shook her head. "Actually gold is pretty rare. That coin has to be worth like...six hundred, six-fifty dollars or so. Maybe more, I'm not sure exactly."

"Is that a lot? I've got more. You can keep that one," she offered, and Janna paled.

"It's a _lot_ of money here on Earth. Thank you, but I couldn't take that much from you. You barely know me!" Janna protested. Star shrugged.

"It's just a Festy. It's a gift from a friend for showing me around. Keep it!" she insisted. Finally Janna relented and put the coin cautiously into a pocket.

"Why don't we...why don't we go sit at the cool girls table," she slowly recovered from being momentarily dumbstruck and led Star towards a corner of the lunch room. Three of the four seats at the table were already occupied, but Janna grabbed a chair from an adjacent table and pulled it over and sat down. She waved Star to the added seat. "This is Leah, Hope, and Jackie," Janna introduced the already seated girls. Leah and Hope gave slightly confused looks at the interloper, but Jackie greeted Star with an easy smile. Star gazed back at the other blonde with an assessing eye like a rival predator before forcing herself to relax. "Girls, this is _Princess_ Star Butterfly, new exchange student," she said dramatically.

"Wait, like an actual princess?" Leah's eyes widened. "Or is this some new joke you are playing, Jans?"

"My mom is Queen, so that makes me a Princess," Star admitted.

"Oh, that is awesome. I guess that means you're from Europe?" Jackie asked.

"Huh? No, I'm from Mewni."

"Where's Mewni? I've never heard of it before," Leah wondered.

"Mewni is in another dimension," Star explained to confused looks. Hope and Leah both cast suspicious looks at Janna, evidently still thinking this was all a prank. Janna saw and gave an innocent expression.

"Not joking here. This is the magic girl. And the Diaz place where she is staying has a new castle tower thing sticking out the side that wasn't there the day before."

"You live in a castle?" Hope asked.

"No," Star replied, and they looked crestfallen until she clarified. "I used to, but I got into trouble so I got kicked out of the castle. I did bring my room with me though."

Janna grinned. "Maybe now you can stop calling me the troublemaker."

"Not going to happen, girl, we know you too well," Jackie shot back with a grin.

"Was it like a Disney castle? Were there any cute Princes around?" Hope asked. Star's mind flashed to Tom at the Silver Moon Ball taking her hand before suddenly throwing her an image of Marco dressed as Mewnian royalty, handsome but awkward in a double breasted white jacket, cape, and epaulettes. She blushed at the image, which didn't go unnoticed by the other girls.

"Ooh, who is he?" Leah teased. Star just shook her head. Not going there anytime soon.

"I wish a Prince would come sweep me off my feet and take me away from here," Hope added.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," Star said wearily. "At first it's all charm and smiles and corn-shakes, but then he's throwing tantrums that you really don't want to cement a family alliance via engagement," she grumbled. The other girls sat in silence for a moment at the outburst. Jackie put a comforting hand on Star's shoulder.

"I still want a prince," Hope decided.

"You're welcome to him," Star groused, but then smiled. The others laughed, and they settled down into eat. Star mainly listened as the others traded gossip about their classes or other students. A few names she could picture faces, but the rest were unknowns, so Star mainly listened and ate her meal. The hot sauce gave a kick to everything, a burning flavor that was nothing like back home, but was oddly tasty. Her father would probably love the stuff.

It caught up with her the next period. Gym was apparently what they called physical activity. She almost had to skip it due to lacking athletic attire. She could have used her raiment spell again, but that only changed what she was wearing, it didn't create new clothes. With her formal dress and sleep gown converted into new dresses, she was running out of clean clothes. What did Earth have instead of the Knights of the Wash? If she changed her Edgar dress into something for gym, it would be all sweaty when she changed it back. Besides, she liked Edgar. It looked cute on her and she wanted to keep it. A lack of outfits was going to be a problem soon though.

The gym clothes problem was solved by Leah, who offered Star a spare set of her own. "Misery loves company," she said in explanation for the generosity. Confused at first, Star quickly realized what she meant by that. She was quite athletic, and usually enjoyed a good run or brawl, but she hadn't even finished with the warm-ups they called crunches and jumping jacks before her hot sauce charred stomach made its displeasure known. Soon she was moaning and groaning along with her classmates. At least it ended before lunch made an unwelcome return.

Her next class was called computer science, which mainly involved learning how to use the human version of think-boxes. Mewni was far too primitive to have their own, but Star had at least seen and used various versions a few times on trips to other dimensions, mainly the Amethyst Arcade. Marco was not in the class with her because he already knew how to use a computer, and instead went to a psychic _psychic logic maybe?_ class instead. For an hour, Star gradually became passable at using the thing, once instructed how the keyboard and mouse operated, and the basics of what little picture icon did what. Marco had a computer, maybe he would let her practice. Or she _was _a Princess, possibly she could get her own computer?

The last class of the day was biology. Another book was given to her, this one full of pictures of spirals and charts of plants and bugs, and then various animals, some cute but others not so much. It wasn't as good as her map book, but the pictures kept her entertained until the day ended.

Star found herself surprisingly exhausted during the ride home on the bus. The sheer stimuli of all the new people and different classes had worn her out. She didn't think she could muster the energy to do any magic study tonight. That could be a problem in the future, but that was a problem for later. A problem for now, however...

"Marco, I need some more clothes." He gave her a disbelieving look.

"You're a girl, and a princess. You mean you don't have a ton of clothes already?" he asked to his seatmate.

"Most of what I have is formalwear, which I don't like, and a few things for when I would go out clubbing with friends, which my parents didn't let me bring."

"Wait, you go clubbing?" Marco asked, his jaw dropping.

"Well, to the degree that young princesses are allowed. It lets us blow off steam and socialize with other royals informally," Star explained.

"You have clubs on Mewni? I thought it was all castles and villages and stuff!"

"Well, usually I go _out_ to have fun. But that's not the point. Clothes. Me."

"Can't you just magic up more like you did this morning?" he wondered.

"I can only change clothes, I can't make new ones or clean them with that spell. And besides, I live on Earth now. I want to wear stuff like humans wear so I can fit in better."

"Gook luck," she could hear Marco mutter under his breath, and she frowned, but it seemed more in jest than malice.

"I don't have any Earth money, but I do have some of these," she told him, pulling out a handful of crowns from her purse. "Janna said they were worth quite a bit?" Marco's eyes did the same bugging out thing that Janna's did. He took one carefully and hefted it.

"I think if you found a reputable gold dealer and sold these, you're looking at a few thousand dollars, easy," he told her after mulling it over.

"OK, cool. Let's do that. I need Earth money to buy Earth stuff. Can we do it now?" she asked excitedly.

"That's...probably a good idea," Marco agreed. "I was going to let you borrow some of my school stuff, but this way you can get your own. And I'm not sure what all you brought with you in your room," he admitted.

"Yay!" Star enthused.

Unfortunately, _now_ wasn't quite as immediate as she had anticipated. The decision was made to all go out to change her money, then go to a store and out to eat for dinner. Marco spent the time writing down a list of things he thought she would need, with Star gnawing on her wand and interjecting with questions about items on the list, or additions, many of which were impractical or not available on Earth. The list-making continued after the Diazes returned home and the quartet piled into a car. Star gave the front a wide berth to avoid walking into the invisible goat that presumably pulled it.

At the gold dealer, Star handed over the crowns she had collected up the day before. Mostly Festys, there was a couple Solarias and a Crescenta. The man scraped a tiny shaving off one of the coins and did something with various liquids and tools. A couple pictures with a weird machine and the man came back impressed. He showed Star some charts which meant nothing to her, so she handed them to Marco who whistled.

"That's...a lot of money." He told her. Star trusted him.

"OK," she agreed without hesitation. The gold man brought over a few papers for her to sign full of dry, closely spaced print which looked slightly odd when she added her cheerful signature to the lines he pointed to. Star frowned at the paper the man handed her though. It didn't look like Earth money, that was green! She was about to protest when Marco saw the expression on her face and explained.

"It's a check. We have to take it to a bank if you want cash." Oh, that made sense. It also meant another trip. "You might want to set up an account so you don't have to carry it all around, and so it's safer." At that point, she tuned him out.

The bank was another boring building, but more complicated than the gold dealer. Apparently the size of the check was too big, so the manager had to come out. After that, there was a problem with Star not having a proper identification or something, eventually settled by having her picture taken and a phone call to the gold dealer to confirm that she was actually the person who was supposed to have the check. Star moaned at how long it was taking, but Marco seemed to accept it, and his parents didn't seem to mind either. That left her as the only one to grumble, and she flopped sideways across her chair.

Finally, the manager brought out the money. A few bundles wrapped by paper bands, and some loose bills. It didn't look all that impressive compared to the hassle involved, but Marco and his family were suitably impressed. More signatures on papers, and it was hers. "Finally," she groaned with relief. One bundle and the loose bills she stuffed in her purse, while the other three she handed over to Marco's parents.

"What? Why? This is your money," Mr. Diaz protested as Marco's jaw dropped.

"I tend to break things," Star told him. "And I'm supposed to be learning magic, which _may_ not always go well. Back home my parents would just pay for any damages, but they aren't here. So I'm just getting it out of the way before hand. And to feed the puppies." It was an oddly mature move by Star's standards, but her memories had flashed up the words property damage, various images of the Diaz house in states of disrepair, and a memory of herself in an orange jumpsuit that made her shudder. She waved off the various protests at how much she had just given them. Eventually, Marco's parents just shared a look and shrugged, then deposited the money into their own account. "Now shopping!" Star declared, glad to be done with all the boring money nonsense.

At first, the Diazes planned to take Star to some fancy boutiques presumably more upscale than they themselves shopped at, but Star shot that idea down. She wasn't a stuffy princess, she just wanted things that were fun and comfortable. Additionally, she needed to buy other things than clothes. Then ended up at the Bullseye store. Star's eyes lit up at the big building. It was no Quest Buy, but this place was full of Earth stuff! She raced ahead before pausing at the doors. They were glass and lacked handles. Oh well, guess she had no choice but to kick her way in as was her wont. She stepped closer and swung her foot out to force entrance. Star stumbles as her foot hit air, the doors sliding apart in front of her instead.

Marco caught up just in time to steady her before she made an embarrassing face plant. Hmm. Maybe Earth doors were wise to her tricks. Pretending nothing untoward just happened, she walked in, tugging Marco along by his arm. It looked a lot like Quest Buy actually, though better lit and less labyrinthine. And instead of surly sloths, a friendly human greeted her politely. The carts were bright red like Marco's hoodie, but lacked riding horses on the front. She did see one with a miniature version of a car attached, but Marco shook his head when she pointed it out to him. "That's a kiddie cart. We're too old for it," he said firmly. Star just pouted, but he didn't waver. He grabbed a normal cart instead, while she became distracted by bins full of colorful things.

Quickly, Star's arms were full of things that caught her interest. She didn't even know what half of it was, but that was part of the fun. Again Marco was shaking his head at her. "This is just the cheap stuff at the front for people to buy on impulse," he explained.

"Well, I'm impulsive," Star declared and dumped her loot into the cart.

"If you are going to be here for a bit, I'm going to go to the Queequeg's and get something to drink. Do you want anything?" Marco offered. Star considered. She had no idea what a Queequeg was, nor what was available on Earth.

"Umm, something sweet? Surprise me," she told him. He left her the cart and wandered off to a small cafe. Shortly he returned and handed her a clear cup with a drink matching his own.

"It's called boba tea. If you don't like it, I can get you something else." he told her. She took an experimental sip. It was good! It wasn't just tea though, there were little chewy things that were rather tasty. Star gave an approving noise as she continued to suck through the straw. She didn't even mind when Marco pushed her cart further into the store, merely following along as he pulled out his massive list.

Surprisingly, picking out school supplies was far from the chore she had been expecting. Pens, pencils, wax color sticks, paint, notebooks, everything was available in bright cheerful colors and interesting patterns. And then she found the glitter. It was like magic in power form, sparkling as she turned the cans around to inspect them. All of the glitter on the shelf ended up in her cart.

Once everything was checked off Marco's list and the cart filled to the brim, Mrs. Diaz took over as Star's escort with a new cart. Star hadn't really wanted anything to do with makeup, but Marco's mother offered to show her what Earth had in the way of cosmetics and make a few suggestions for basics. Again, the sheer variety of colors and options amazed the Mewnian girl. A saleslady helped Star pick out a variety of basics, and then she added some bright colors and more daring choices. She would have to learn how to apply them herself, but the thought of looking however she liked, rather than what the handmaids had thought was proper was an enticing one.

Hair care was another area Earth had Mewni beat. Star spent a while sniffing all the different products before settling on a few different ones. And there were devices that used wall magic to dry her hair, curl it, straighten it, crimp it, almost anything she could want to do to her hair- there was a tool available. All of which joined her haul in the cart. Star wasn't nearly confident enough in her magic to use it on her hair yet. For now, these tools would do.

She spent even longer in clothes, picking out various outfits and trying some of them on in a little cubicle in the back. A third cart filled up with her selections, as well as a number of cheap outfits to provide a basis for her raiment transform spell in case she needed anything special. Meanwhile, she dispatched Marco to pick her out a thinky-box of her own, handing him part of her stack of bills. By the time she had tried out her last outfit of the evening, he had returned with a surprisingly small bag and handed her back some of the money. He explained that it was a 'lap-top' and more portable, a better choice for school. He also explained that it was far newer and nicer than the ones at school, and similar to his own. She made him promise to help her set it up and show her how to use it.

Eventually, Marco's parents warned her that she was reaching the point where her bundle of money wouldn't pay for everything, so Star finished by adding a couple of stuffed unicorn pillows she had been eyeing and calling it done. It was getting late in the evening, and her stomach was starting to growl at her, demanding more satisfaction than just a bubble tea drink. Bringing the multiple carts up to the checkout, Star could see the cashier blanche at her haul. The person didn't openly complain though, and was friendly enough during the long process.

Fortunately the car had just enough room to fit all her new possessions, though she and Marco had to share the back seat with some bags. On the way home, they stopped by a place for burgers and fries. She happily munched on several of the salty sticks as they pulled into the road leading to the house before the car suddenly stopped. Star frowned as the jerk of the brakes led her to drop the fry she had been about to devour, and she peeked around the seat to see what had just happened.

"Star Butterfly! I know you are in there! Come out and face me!" She slapped a hand across her face with embarrassment at the sight of Ludo and his minions shouting at the house directly across from her new home.

"Is this something we should be concerned about? Are you safe?" Mr. Diaz asked her at the sight of the monsters.

"We took care of them yesterday just fine. I didn't think they would be back so soon," she replied. "Guess we will have to get rid of them again," she said determinedly. Marco saw her expression and his eyes lit up.

"We got this," he told his parents.

"If you're sure," his mother said, and he nodded quickly. "We'll unload the car. Your food will be on the counter when you come in." Wow. His parents were almost unnaturally chill about the situation. Star popped the door and got out of the car, Marco on the far side. Once they were clear, the Diazes pulled up into the driveway, giving a wide berth to the band of monsters standing in the road.

"Ah, there you are, Princess! Where have you been?" the bird-princeling demanded, turning to face her and Marco. Terrified faces peered out of the window Ludo had been shouting at. Marco waved at them.

"Don't worry, Mr. and Mrs Krumble, we can handle this," he shouted at them.

"We tried calling the police, but they wouldn't believe us!" the older lady called back.

"I was out shopping and getting dinner," Star continued the confrontation with Ludo as Marco dealt with his neighbor.

"I bet you didn't expect me to return so soon, hmm?" he taunted.

"Not really, no," she admitted. Looking at his gang, she figured none of them had expected to be called back into action a mere day after their last fight either. Most of them were limping or nursing their wounds from before- Giraffnik was sporting a series of neck braces and Beard Deer had one eye swollen shut. "And seriously, Ludo? You weren't even shouting at the right house! I mean, look!" she pointed at the tower containing her room sticking out rather obviously from the side of the Diaz house.

"What! Buff Frog! Why didn't you correct me?" the bird rounded on his spy in annoyance. The green monster gulped at the staff head pointed directly at his throat.

"Master, you were making quite a threatening speech, I didn't want to interrupt," he groveled. The play to Ludo's ego worked, and he spun back towards Star.

"Anyways, now you are here, and it's time for you to hand over that wand!" he demanded. Hearing this, Marco edged closer to Star as the duo took up combat stances.

"It's going to get a little weird," he warned his neighbors.

"It's going to get a little _wild_," Star corrected. After a long day of school, boredom, and shopping, the thrill of a fight perked her up, letting her ignore her growling stomach.

"What are these things? And who is she?" Mr. Krumble wondered.

"Monsters. And Star Butterfly, our new exchange student. She's not from around here," he explained briefly, not taking his eyes off their opponents as Ludo chided them into a combat formation.

"I'm from another dimens-ion!" Star clarified in a singsong, before opening up. "Bubble blast!" Ludo gagged as a stream of soapy suds hit him in the face, sending him flying.

"Get her! Get the wand!" Ludo shrieked. Evidently the monsters had learned from the day before, and this time advanced in groups rather than charging in at full speed. It wasn't going to help much.

"Rainbow kick!" Star swept low and magically cut the legs out from Big Chicken who fell into the path of Bearicorn and Potato Baby, tripping them up and entangling the trio. Behind her, Marco slid around a shoulder barge by Buff Frog, spinning into a kick to the back of Conjoinican. He yelped as he was lifted off the ground by Giraffnik who had managed to grab his hood.

Star tried to line up a shot for a narwhal blast to rescue him, but the monster hefted him higher into the air, keeping the boy in the way to block her aim. Marco didn't panic however, and lifted his arms straight up and tipped his chin up, slipping loose of the captured hoodie. Instead of dropping free, he grabbed the bottom hem as he fell and turned his momentum into a swing, kicking off the monster's knee to add speed and wrap the hoodie around Giraffnik's neck. The quick change of direction was enough to flip the monster off his feet and slam him into the ground.

Satisfied that the boy was handling himself, Star switched aim to Beard Deer. A quick narwhal blast dropped him to the ground, groaning under the weight of marine mammal.

"Ow, ow, ow," moaned Ludo as he finally picked himself up from her initial strike. The kappa might be fine with letting his underlings get hurt, but a little personal injury and the fight was gone from him. He stared daggers at Star, then sliced open a portal. "All right losers, lets go. Next time you won't be ready for us!" he threatened as the now doubly wounded monsters limped and crawled back through the vortex. The Krumbles stared with shock as the last of the monsters disappeared and the portal closed with a snap. Star gave them a friendly wave.

"Got it covered. Not a problem!" she reassured them, before her stomach growled loudly. "Maybe they left so quickly because they were hungry too?" she told Marco.

"I liked that hoodie," he complained. He hadn't manage to recover his red garment from Giraffnik before the monster had fled, thus was left in a plain grey shirt soaked with sweat from the exertion of combat.

"Poor Ludo. He wants to steal my wand, but all he managed to get are your clothes!" Star giggled. "Come on, I'm hungry, and want to try out this cheeseburger thing you suggested for me." She reached out to grab Marco for a congratulatory hug, but quickly let go. Eww, sweaty Marco. Well, nobody was perfect.

Their food was still warm when they made it inside. Star chowed down on her burger and fries, and began to steal food from Marco while he alternated between exhilaration over another successful battle and annoyance at a second lost hoodie in two days. Star had enough of his griping about the same time as she stole his last fry. She dug into her purse and pulled out her last few bills of Earth money and shoved them into his hand.

"Huh?" he looked at the money, confused.

"Here. Buy some more hoodies. You're going to mess up or lose more if you still want a bit more danger in your life," she predicted. He opened his mouth and abruptly closed it, repeating several times before finally getting words out.

"Why would you give me money to get them?" he wondered.

"Well, you have to pay for them, right?" she replied, the _duh_ unspoken.

"I mean this is your money. Why give it to me to buy _my_ hoodies?"

"Well, for one you've lost the ones so far because you fight monsters with me, so it's kind of my fault," she explained, before her mouth kept going, words no longer under her conscious control. "And you look cute in them, even if you wear them when it is too hot out and they make you all sweaty," she added before slamming her jaw shut with a squeak. Marco gave a confused blush, but had no response. Star didn't either. She hadn't even been thinking that, but it seemed that Future Star had a strong opinion on the garment. "You were going to show me how to set up my new laptop?" she changed the subject quickly, embarrassed.

"Yeah, okay," Marco agreed around his last mouthful of food. He seemed willing to let her comment slide which was a relief. The numerous bags from her spree earlier were all stacked in a corner. Marco fished out the one with the computer while Star followed, levitating the rest of the bags with magic.

In her room, she let the various bags drop wherever, while Marco carefully unpacked the laptop onto her desk. He opened it up but when he tried to plug a cable into the rear he frowned. "Star, do you have any outlets in here?" he wondered.

"Outlets?"

"Guess that answers that question. Most castles don't tend to have electricity I assume," he said, mostly to himself.

"Electricity? Oh, wall magic!" Star figured out what he was talking to. Her new laptop needed wall magic to work. "Umm, I don't know how that works. Does that mean my new thinky-laptop won't work?" she asked plaintively.

"No, we can set it up. They come with some power in the battery, but you are going to need to charge it somewhere in the house," he explained.

"Good," Star was satisfied. He pressed a button and the laptop lit up and started making noises. She began digging in her shopping bags as it did so. Star probably should be watching what Marco was doing with the thing, but she had a class at school to learn these things. Finally she found what she was looking for and pulled out a bunch of little pots of paint and brushes with a cry of victory.

"What are those for?" Marco wondered.

"Decorating," she informed him, pulling her door open so she could see the outside. The laptop continued to make noises as she considered her door. Marco would occasionally push some buttons, but he was watching her now. Decision made, Star unscrewed the lids to several paints and dipped the brushes into them before carefully writing on her door. Around the star shaped peep-window, she added the butterfly in purple, before adding 'Star's Room' in pink below it just to make it extra clear. Some happy little hearts and flowers were added before she changed colors for the next sign. 'Come in!,' it announced, welcoming the world. She tapped her lips with the brush as she considered what else needed to be added before sputtering at the taste of paint in her mouth. Marco just rolled his eyes and kept watch on her computer. _Marco!_ That was it! There were certain proprieties about a lady's room on Mewni, so it was important to make things clear regarding _her_ room. Thus at the bottom, she added the message 'Boys Welcome' with extra hearts for emphasis.

Satisfied with her work, she wandered over to the desk to check on Marco's progress. "What do you want your password to be?" he asked her.

"Password?"

"So other people can't use your computer if you don't want them to," he explained. That made sense.

"Laser Puppies," she decided. He confirmed the spelling and typed it in, and the computer finished booting up. Before she could start playing with it herself, a chiming noise sounded from her wall. Marco looked up at the sound in confusion. Star just groaned. "It's mom calling," she told him, seeing the name on her mirror.

"Should I be in here? I shouldn't be in here!" Marco started to panic.

"It's fine, you're fine," she told him and then tapped the gem to answer the call. "Hi Mom!" Star said grudgingly.

"Hello Star, I hope you are doing well," Queen Moon greeted her daughter before her eyes shifted to something behind the girl and she frowned. "Is that a boy in your room? Who is he and what is he doing there?" her voice turned frosty.

Star turned and saw that MArco had made it most of the way to the door and was trying to sneak out. "MARCO!" she shouted at him, annoyed. "Get back over here!" Hesitantly, the boy returned, cowed by her fierce expression. "Mom, this is Marco Diaz. He's the son of the family you set me up with and my guide at school. And my new best friend," she declared, daring her mother to challenge her.

Moon merely raised an eyebrow. "Marco is it?" The boy dropped to a knee and bowed deeply.

"My apologies, your majesty. It's an honor to make your acquaintance," he said, eyes on the floor.

"Marco? what are you doing?" Star hissed at him. It was embarrassing to see him groveling.

"She's a queen!" he whispered back, not moving from his bow. "You have to show respect to royalty!" he insisted.

"I'm a princess, and you didn't bow to me," she pointed out. "In fact, when I told you that, you ran away!"

"You had just lit a rainbow on fire!" he protested, "but should I have bowed? Do you want me to bow?"

"No! I don't want you to bow to me. Besties don't need to bow!" Star declared before pulling on his arm to lift him from the prostrate position. "Now get up you kook!" Looking back at her mother, Star caught a hint of a smirk at the bickering before the stern visage returned.

"What's this about a fire rainbow?" Moon asked pointedly.

"Just a little one this time," Star admitted, "and I fixed it right away."

"So your magical studies are going well then I presume?"

"Oh, come on, Mom. I've been here like one day. Earth school is really long, and then I had to buy some stuff, and then we fought Ludo again, so I haven't had time yet!" Star protested. Moons eyes widened.

"You fought _Ludo?_" she asked. Oops. She hadn't meant to let her mother into that quite so soon.

"Yeah, he kinda knows where I am and tried to attack yesterday, and then again earlier." She waved her hands dismissively.

"Is the wand safe?" Moon demanded.

"The wand is fine," Star told her, waving it in front of her to demonstrate. "I'm fine too, by the way," she added snarkily. "And so is Marco," was added a second later. _Marco safe, Marco happy._ Moon frowned at that last addition.

"Marco? You dragged him into things?" The disappointed Mom voice was a familiar one.

"It wasn't like that, Mom!" Star protested. "Ludo just showed up, and I was going to take care of things myself, but then Marco was all like Hi-Yah! and Ker-chow! and Rah!" She made various gestures to punctuate her rendition. "He's actually a really good fighter!" she concluded proudly."

"Is he now?" Moon cast an appraising glance at the boy who had been doing his best not to draw attention as he stood nervously beside Star. "It seems I must thank you for protecting my daughter and her wand," she told him, causing the boy to blush.

"On the plus side, my combat spells worked out great!" Star enthused. "We sent Ludo packing easily!"

"That's...good to hear. I'm glad you are all safe." Moon conceded. "I hope you will apply yourself as hard to studying less _physical_ spells as well."

"Yes, Mom." Star agreed grudgingly.

"Was there anything else you needed to tell me?" her mother asked.

"Actually, I could use an allowance," Star said hopefully. The few coins scavenged from the bribe to Principal Skeeves had gone surprisingly far, but now she was out of money again, Earth or Mewni. Moon blinked at the request.

"I'll discuss it with your father," she said after a moment. "Stay safe dear, and study hard!" she concluded.

"Bye Mom!" Star told her and then clicked off the mirror. At least it wasn't an outright no. Behind her, she could hear Marco let out a deep breath as he finally let himself relax from standing at attention. "I think she likes you," Star told him casually.

"Really? How could you tell?" he asked hesitantly.

"Well, trying to sneak out of my room didn't make the best first impression," she told him pointedly, "but after I explained things, she seemed to be impressed by you."

"By _me?_" he said in shock. "I'm just a kid! She's a _Queen!_"

"She's not _your_ queen," Star pointed out. "She's my mom, and you're my new bestie, so this probably won't be the only time you talk to her," she added. "It's nice that you were polite, but just relax a little next time." An image flashed into her head of rushing into a royal box with Marco behind her, as the boy greeting the fully regalia'd Moon with a breezy 'Hey Queen.' Interesting. "Now I'm getting kind of tired, so do you want the bathless room first or can I use it now?"

"You can have it first," he offered, "as long as you leave some hot water this time. But didn't you want to set up your laptop?"

"Nah," she decided. "We can do that tomorrow. Just go plug it in so it can eat and be fully charged, please." He nodded and took the laptop with him as she dug through her new bags for the shampoo and conditioner Mrs. Diaz had helped her pick.

Still somewhat distrustful of the shower and it's attempts to drown her as she sang, Star had to admit that Earth had some pretty good stuff for hair. It hadn't fully recovered from being matted and tangled all day, but it smoothed out and even better, smelled like berries. And the hair drier was genius, though she had to use the wand to lift it behind her. Adding a couple of brushes to the magical grip and she found that she could wrangle her hair just as well as her handmaids, and far faster. Neat.

She woke up early the next day thanks to the annoying buzzer of a new alarm clock rather than anyone rapping on the door. Star yawned as she inspected herself in the mirror. A bit of application of her new hair care spell, and she was looking much improved compared to yesterday. Satisfied, she wandered downstairs.

"SURPRISE!" she jumped at the shout before recognizing the voices as MArco and his parents. They were standing in front of a banner that read 'Happy 3rd day on Earth, Star!'

"Aww!" she cooed. It was like a mini-party! The laser puppies ran around adding their barks and beams to the excitement. They had a pleasant breakfast together, Star enjoying a trio of cupcakes, a sweeter version of the blueberry muffins she adored. The good mood began to dissipate slightly as the skies darkened and the rumble of thunder sounded. Quickly the heavens opened up and rain began pounding down.

That morning, Star decided to wear some of her new clothes rather than magic up an outfit. She settled on a fitted purple top with a cheery llama on the front, pleated black skirt, white leggings, and calf high black boots with a slight heel. Her horned headband looked out of place, so a bit of magic and it changed from red to shiny black. There. Marco of course was in his typical jeans and hoodie, though in deference to the weather, he shoved his arms into a bright yellow poncho and rain boots.

For her own use, Star considered her wand. A bit of concentration, and it sprouted a pink umbrella with a smiling face from the top. It was certainly _her_, but she was struck with an image as the wand as a different parasol, held in gloved hands by an elegant looking woman in purple. What struck Star was that the woman bore glowing spades on her cheeks. Who was she? Why did she have the wand? And why did she feel a fondness for the mystery woman? The memory faded and Star shook her head. Another mystery to add to the pile Future Star left her with.

Thanks to the pouring rain, everyone at school was rather subdued. Star spent most of her time only half listening to the lessons, instead pondering who the spade cheeked woman was. She even tried to draw her in art class, though the result was a decent representation of the woman's dress, hat, and parasol wand, Stars rendition of the woman's face was crude and generic, not unlocking any more answers.

Lunch was spent at the girls table with Janna and the others. Her spirits were raised slightly as Jackie told some funny stories about trying to skateboard in the rain and how it turned into something more like surfing down a flooded street. Star laughed along with the other girls, and she found herself warming towards the other blonde. She could see why Marco had a crush on the easy-going girl, though the admission felt like a cramp in her heart.

The rest of the day continued with the rain drowning out the sun. Gym was held indoors which meant more aerobics and less jogging, a mixed blessing. At least computer class was more fun with her own laptop to play with. She learned what a few more programs did, if only the basics, but more importantly changed the background to a picture of a happy pink kitten with a unicorn horn.

The rest of the day was equally boring, and the ride home quiet besides the rattle of raindrops on the metal roof of the bus. At the house, Marco disappeared upstairs, while Star poked through the kitchen looking for something to snack on. Earth had the best sweet foods, apparently thanks to white stuff called sugar. It was light and easy to use compared to the corn-syrup used as sweetener on Mewni, and thus there was a massive variety of sweet treats available. The candy she had found in a drawer tasted even better than the snookers bars popular back home. She grabbed a second one to share her prize with Marco.

"Oh my gosh, this stuff is so good!" she said around her last mouthful of chocolate, wandering into his room. The door was open, so it was fine. "Huh?" she wondered aloud upon seeing the boy. Instead of his attire from earlier, he was now dressed in a white robe with a green belt, doing slow stretches and hand choppy moves. "Why are you wearing a bath robe?" she asked him.

"What! This isn't a bath robe! This is my gi!" he protested.

"Gi? You mean like jammies? It's way too soon to go to bed!" she pointed out.

"Not jammies either! It's my _gi_!" For karate!" Marco's tone was highly offended.

"Sure, sure sure sure," she agreed, though it still didn't make any sense. "Why do you need to wear it though? Ludo isn't around, and you did your karates just fine in your normal clothes the last few days," she wondered.

"You can do karate in anything, but this is the proper uniform of a martial artist," he explained. "It shows that I have the discipline and skill to count myself as a green belt master. I am one with myself and the universe, with my mind and my soul, my feet and my fists. And I have lessons every Wednesday. I was just warming up before mom comes home with the car. Normally I ride my bike there, but it's still storming." It made sense to Star, but didn't do much to dissuade her of the opinion that it was an unflattering outfit. May as well just wear long underwear, it would look basically the same.

She thought about asking to go with him to his practice, but decided against it. She already knew what it looked like when he did karate against monsters, watching him do it for practice in a robe just didn't strike her fancy. If he was out of the house, that would give her some quiet time to look up a few things in the Magic Spellbook, maybe something to help her figure out who the mystery woman was.

Once the Diazes were gone, she went up to her room and pulled the massive tome out from under her bed where she had hidden it. Cracking it open, she coughed at the cloud of dust that billowed from the pages. Was it that bad under her bed? She started flipping through pages, scanning for key words while playing with some of her new school supplies. Highlighters could come in handy. Skywynne's chapter she skipped, having read it all. There was some useful stuff in it, but nothing about memories. Jushtin, well it was kind of neat that she had an Uncle-Grandma, but he didn't have anything useful either. Nor did Solaria, whose chapter was all about fighting monsters, but while initially appealing, it quickly became too bloody for Star's tastes.

After that was a locked section that Mom had been unwilling to tell her anything about. Festivia's chapter was entertaining, as the queen was a bit of a party girl and loved her mirror. So relatable. And ooh, a spell for a flameless rainbow! She was so right, those things were always catching fire for Star. She started reading. _Oops!_ Unfortunately the glitter glue she had been inspecting spilled into the page. She tried to wipe it off, but it only spread, covering up the useful spell. Star wrote an apology into the margin with a new pen and kept going.

Crescenta's chapter, well there might be the answer. Called the Eager for a reason, she had so many spells that most of them were written in supplements to the Spellbook itself. Flipping through pages, Star quickly got frustrated by the fact that the former queen delighted in giving funky names to her creations, followed by long summaries of what they did and how they worked. After the first few, Star just started to skin, looking for key words of interest. A few struck her as she flipped pages. Heal broken bones. Paint fingernails. Bubble of air for underwater. Confidence booster.

"Memory spell, memory spell, you have to be in here somewhere!" Star grumbled as page after page failed to provide anything useful.

"Maybe if you had one, you wouldn't forget all about your mentor, hmm?" a dry voice responded. Star glanced up and looked at the tiny blue man-thing floating above the book. Fortunately he was wearing his robe and had it closed. Effectively genderless avatar of magic or not, there were things she didn't need to see.

"It hasn't even been a week since my last lesson, Glossy!" she protested. "And I've been busy getting settled here on Earth," she added. Glossaryck glanced around at her room.

"On Earth, huh? Looks the same to me," he said.

"My room is the same, everything outside is different though. Take a look out the window!" She wasn't quite sure if he was being dense, or pulling one of his 'higher level of thought' lessons. Or just being difficult for his own amusement. All of which were equally likely. "Now that you are here, can you show me where the memory spells are in this thing?" she asked him hopefully

"Memory spells huh? Can't say I recall any of those," he told her after a moment. Star just glared at him.

"That's not very funny. Do you know any or not?" she demanded.

"Well, well, well, isn't this interesting. This seems to be first time I've seen you actually studying magic, looking for something specific." He crossed his arms and regarded her placidly.

"So does that mean you will help me?" Star wondered.

"Well now you have me curious. So how about a trade. You tell me why you want to learn a memory spell all of the sudden, and I'll help you find what you are looking for," he offered.

Star hesitated. On one hand, being able to do something to manage her future memories would help a lot. On the other, Star herself had only determined that they were memories from a future Star for lack of logical alternatives. She wasn't quite convinced herself, so how could she make anyone else believe her? They would just think she was crazy or lying, and send her to St. Olga's school. She shuddered even considering the possibility.

It would be even worse if they found out what specific memory she wanted to look into- a mystery woman wielding the royal wand. Star had been specifically told, repeatedly and emphatically, not to let the wand fall into the wrong hands, or the results could be cataclysmic. She hadn't felt anything specifically negative towards the woman in her mind, but the more she thought about it, she could recall fear and determination and pain, and having been in a fight. Maybe the mystery woman had taken the wand from her? Did Future Star send the memories back so stop her from getting the wand? It didn't feel right, but it was a possibility that couldn't be denied.

Glossaryck might have answers, but he was still an enigma, despite being a guide to the royal family for countless generations. Telling him anything could be dangerous. He had a way of looking into you and figuring you out while at the same time being infuriatingly cryptic even when actually trying to be helpful.

"Hello, Earth to Star!" he shouted at her, evidently not for the first time. She refocused her eyes on the blue being and pulled the wand out of her mouth where she had been chewing it in thought. "Well if deciding on that deal is baking your noodle that hard, how about I sweeten it up a bit." He spread his hand into a massive fan of fingers.

"There are actually eighteen spells relating to memory in this book alone, and another two hundred some in the first volume and side diaries of the queens." Fingers appeared out of the ends of fingers even further, before he dropped them and all but four fingers vanished. "They fall into four main categories: Memory creation spells- that let you implant new memories into a person and make them think something happened that actually didn't. Memory erasure spells, like it sounds. Someone remembers something you'd rather they didn't, poof gone. Usually short term, but there are some doozies of powerful versions. Memory manipulation spells, where you don't create or erase anything, but go in and change details. Most are to help deal with trauma, to go back and ease pain or grief. And finally, Memory reading spells, that let you pull specific memories out and inspect them." He narrowed his eyes as she slightly perked up at the last description.

"Seems I've hit something there," he said with a note of victory. "You want to remember something better, don't you?"

"No!" Star denied quickly. "Well, yes," she admitted a moment later. "Maybe?" Was it even really _her_ memory she was interested in?

"I believe that covers all the bases as far as answers go," Glossaryck snarked. "I thought it was a simple question, a simple concept."

_That_ triggered something in her mind. Glossaryck was gone somehow. Taken? She was seeking him out, trying to find him/rescue him/get him back. She was so close, pleading with him to take her hand, to come with her. Wasn't he her friend? Him refusing. He belonged to the book. Friendship was such a simple concept. Despair. Glossaryck was gone. That settled it. She couldn't trust him with this. Even if it might help, someone might get their hands on him, force him to reveal her secrets. Star couldn't risk it.

"No, no deal. I'll just have to figure it out myself," she told him solemnly. He raised an eyebrow but didn't act angry or offended.

"Well, I didn't see that coming. Color me even more intrigued. Well, the offer stands. And if you want to study anything else, you know where I live. Toodle-loo!" He dove back into the book and it snapped shut behind him. She considered continuing with her search, but gave a disgusted groan and shoved the thing back under her bed. Excited barking noises came from downstairs indicating that Marco and his parents were probably home.

She could smell Marco from several feet away. The boy looked wiped out with exhaustion and soaked with sweat. "What happened?" she wondered.

"Stupid Jeremy," was all that he muttered as he passed her up the stairs and entered the bathroom. She followed him after a moment, She heard the shower turn on and was slightly relieved. She still wanted to know why he was so exhausted and grumpy, and who Jeremy was. The door wasn't locked, so she let herself in.

"Are you OK? she asked the boy in the shower stall." The glass was fuzzy and already fogging up, so all she saw was his silouette as he jumped and yelped at her voice.

"STAR! What are you doing in here!" he yelled.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," she replied.

"I'm in the shower!" he hissed back.

"Don't look up at it directly," she warned. "That was my mistake."

"What?"

"I mean, if I have it figured out already, you should have the shower mastered by now. Come on, tell me what's wrong!" she cajoled.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? What's wrong is that I'm in the shower right now, and you are out there!" he protested.

"I meant about this Jeremy person. Why is the shower thing a problem?"

"Because...well...I'm a boy, and you're a girl! And I'm in the shower!"

"What is it with the shower? Is there some Earth tradition about it I haven't learned?"

"I'm in the shower, not wearing anything, and you are out there!"

"Why would you be wearing anything while taking a shower? It would get all wet, and you wouldn't get clean?"

She could see and hear him slapping his forehead.

"I'm a boy not wearing _anything_ and you are a girl. It's not proper! Or polite!" Oh. _Ohhh._ Oh.

"You don't need to worry about me, Marco, but it's sweet. I mean my Mom wanted me to have guards in the room when I took a bath, but at least I talked her out of it."

"That's not what I meant..." he started to protest before groaning. "Fine, fine! Just promise me you won't peek!" he said grudgingly.

"Fine, I promise!" Star told him as she hopped up on the counter to sit. If she had a chance, she was totally going to peek. "Are you going to tell me what happened at your karate thing earlier? I thought I was the only one to make you go that cranky-pants!" It had only been a few days, but somehow she knew it would already be safe to joke about their disastrous first encounter.

"It's just this young kid named Jeremy Birnbaum. His family is rich, and he's a spoiled brat. I'm a green belt level, but he likes to come in wearing a black belt, which there is _no_ way he could have earned without his parents buying it for him. But he seems to make his goal in life to make me miserable. I ended up pushing myself harder than I should after the last few fights and made a fool of myself in front of Sensei. And Jeremy just laughed at me, _again_!"

Aww. All she wanted to do was give him a hug and cheer him up. The hug option was currently out, so she settled for trying to make him feel better.

"Even if he has a better karate belt than you, I doubt that this Jeremy has used his karate to rescue a princess from monsters, has he?" Well, not exactly rescue her, but precise semantics could be ignored for the sake of consoling a friend.

Marco sighed, then stood up a little straighter. "Your right, he hasn't! I'd like to see him face off against a monster. I really would. Speaking of, do you think Ludo is going to try to attack again today? Is that going to be a daily thing?"

Star shrugged. "I have no idea. He _really_ wants my wand, but we did beat him up pretty good a couple times already. Hopefully he takes a day off to rest and heal. I really don't want to go out in this rain today." As the shower cut off, she could hear it again, pouring on the roof.

"Don't look!" Marco warned, evidently resigned to her being in the room with him.

"I'm covering my eyes," she told him, though she split her fingers to see through them. Unfortunately he was a step ahead of her, as the shower door cracked and an arm snaked out, grabbing a fluffy pink towel and drawing it inside. A moment later he exited, the towel wrapped around his body. Oh, boo. She was imagining abs, and wanted to see if she was right. Another time, maybe.

She gave him a moment to get changed into clothes before joining him in his room, flopping on her stomach on his bed. Marco sagged in his chair, worn out and sore. The duo were waiting to see if Ludo was going to make an appearance, idly chatting. Star asked various questions she had about Earth from her first few days and making him laugh when recounting her conversations with the girls at lunch. She huffed a bit at how he leaned in more intently when she relayed the story Jackie had told, but the boy was clearly smitten. _Marco safe, Marco happy_.

Soon the conversation turned to Janna and her weirdness, with one particular story causing her to giggle so hard she rolled off the bed with a thump. Dismissing his insistence that she check for a concussion, they quickly returned to the easy conversation. She learned more about Alfonzo and Ferguson and his family, how he had an aunt who was a constable in a place called Brooklyn, and his grandma who taught him to cook. In return she told her of her friends from Mewni, about how Pony Head was always getting her into trouble, her friendly brawls with Kelly, and how Tiffany taught her all the cool songs and dances instead of the stuffy royal lessons. Eventually yawns started to overcome them and they hadn't heard a peep from any sort of monster. Star left to get her own shower, and then they said their goodnights.

The next morning and things were already settling into a routine. Weird dreams that could be memories or just her mind affected by all the new earth foods. Waking up to a stupid little buzzer way too early. Today she simply joined Marco in the bathroom for the morning routine. After a minor tussle, they agreed that the right sink was hers, and the left belonged to him. He was a bit neurotic about cleanliness; as far as she was concerned, if she can find things, it was organized enough.

The novelty of classes was also starting to wear off, but at least everything they were trying to teach her was relatively new. Earth was so different. The one amusing moment of the day was discovering that BethanyFan was using art class to add horns to a headband, copying Star's own headgear. Marco thought it was a little creepy, but Star found it adorable and gave the other girl her blessing. They even snapped photos with Star's mirror and BethanyFan's phone.

Homework was an unexpected surprise however. Apparently school wasn't enough drudgery, they had to send more home with you. Blah. Even worse, without the guidance of the teachers, she found herself lost until Marco finally offered to help. Even then, it took her hours to finish, though admittedly she kept getting distracted. Finally, Marco figured out how to motivate her- he mentioned that they could watch some movies on the looky-box after she finished the homework, and he would even make a special snack. It was the latter that cinched it. He didn't explain what he was going to make, insisting it be a surprise, but her mind was kind enough to provide her with a hint of a gooey crunchy delicious treat that was unique to Marco.

The rest of the afternoon blurred by, only interrupted by dinner. Finally, she slammed her book closed with more force than was really necessary, but it was movie time! "So what are we watching?" she asked excitedly.

"I'm not sure. What do you like? I assume you know what movies are?" She gave Marco a sour look in reply.

"Movies, shows, plays, books, they are all just stories. Every dimension has their own versions," she explained, annoyed. She wasn't from Earth, but she wasn't stupid. He held up his hands placatingly.

"I didn't mean, um, how about you just look at the DVDs while I make the snacks. It will take me a bit, but it's going to be worth it," he promised. He directed her over to the cabinet and let her inspect the Diaz movie collection. They had pictures on the front and descriptions on the back, enough that she could figure out the basics. Marco left her to begin work in the kitchen, and she pulled out movies one at a time considering them. Certain titles were familiar enough that memories triggered. The one with the fox dating the police officer rabbit. The space movie with the bad guy with breathing trouble and a mask. The cartoon she considered fondly with the boy, the princess, and the magic blue Glossaryck who granted wishes. Suddenly the idea struck her. These might be future memories. She didn't want to talk about them directly, but she could remember a movie about time travel! If they watched that, she could ask questions and get Marco's opinions, and he would just think she was asking about the story! Perfect!

Now she just had to find it. Star knew it existed, and that it had a picture on the front of a flying car, and Marty, and a crazy scientist called Great Scott or something. Her search became more frantic and she started tossing movies aside instead of stacking them back. It had to be here somewhere! _Finally_! She held up her prize with a little cheer. This was the movie they were going to watch!

"Star! It's ready! Come in here!" Marco called from the kitchen. She shuffled the movies she had thrown on the floor into a little pile with her foot before putting her selection on the couch and heading for the kitchen. She smiled as she saw him with a fluffy white hat and big gloves before reaching into the oven. "All right Star," he told her as made the dramatic reveal. "Feast your eyes on _this!_" In his hands was a large plate overflowing with chips and cheese and peppers that smelled heavenly, instantly making Star start to drool. _Marco's Super Awesome Nachos!_ her head named them for her.

She gave a delighted clap and plucked one off the plate quickly. "Triangle food!" These must be why she had associated the shape with yummy earth cuisine! It was fresh out of the oven however, and she thought better than to jam it right in her mouth, no matter how tempting.

Fate tried to take that opportunity to deny her that taste of cheesy joy. A loud knock sounded at the back door. It had been a couple days already, was Ludo back and trying something more subtle? She shared a glance with Marco and wordlessly they agreed on a plan of action. She quickly stuffed the nacho in her mouth _ooh, so good!_ and retrieved her wand while Marco went to the door and opened it cautiously. He glanced from one side of the yard to the other, but there was nothing there. He was still holding the plate of nachos though. _Oh, no, put them down, Marco!_

"Yo, what up, home fries!" a voice shouted from outside, and Marco shrieked in surprise. Star watched with horror as the plate of snacks flew up into the air as he stumbled backwards, boy, plate, and poor poor triangle food collapsing into a mess in the doorway. He worked so hard on those too! Tears started to form in her eyes at the loss before the voice registered and her mood made a wild u-turn.

"_Oh my gosh!_ she cried happily. "Flying Princess Pony Head!" she declared, the descriptor more for Marco's benefit so he would know that the ambusher was not an evil monster. She rushed forwards to greet her oldest friend, but a second thought had her step to the side to avoid walking on top of the prone Marco.

"Oh hello, B-Fly!" the other princess greeted cheerfully. Star had so many questions. How did she know she was here? How did she get here? Why was she here? Instead she wrapped her arms around Pony Head's neck in a hug. "Girl, were going out tonight! Are you ready to make some _baaaaad_ choices?" the pony declared. Star hesitated for a moment. She was about to watch a movie with Marco, and she was supposed to stay on Earth...who was she kidding. The nachos were a tragically lost cause now, and she could never say no to her best friend. Oh! Even better, maybe she could pay Marco back a little for showing her around! It would be her turn to show him a different dimension and all the cool stuff it had!

"Let me just wake up Marco," she said in agreement. Pony Head looked at the lump on the ground, buries in snack food.

"Oh, that is not a dead person?" she asked dismissively.

"Not...dead," Marco groaned. Star grabbed his arms to help him stand up. Apparently the heavy plate of food had knocked the wind out of him when it landed.

"Pony Head, meet my best friend, Marco Diaz!" she waved the boys hand in greeting. He was taking a moment to catch his breath.

"Your best friend?" the other princess asked in a low voice. Star immediately picked up on the danger. Pony Head always had a thing about being most important, and was extremely sensitive about the idea of being supplanted or replaced. Maybe it had to do with having so many sisters.

"Huh?" Star waved her arms, gesturing with Marco's hands that she was still gripping. "Oh, no, no, no! On _Earth._" she clarified. It was far easier than trying to explain what Marco was to her when she hadn't even begun to resolve Future Star's emotions compared to her own. "_You're_ my best friend on Mewni!" Hopefully the other princess wouldn't pick up on the fact that she hadn't made a definitive decision on who was best overall. Pony Head _did_ tend to cause trouble and leave Star to pick up the pieces fairly often... "Marco, this is the pony I've been telling you about!" she told the boy as he finally recovered from his spill.

Pony Head bobbed down to face him and gave a glittery huff. She still didn't look pleased to have Star insist on bringing him on what had clearly been planned as a girls club night. "I hate your face!" she declared. "Plus you're ugly," she added, before giving a short laugh and smooshing her face into Marco's. "Just kidding! That's a joke!" It wasn't the most sincere, but at least her friend was making an effort to be nice to her new friend. For Pony Head terms of 'nice.' "Tick Tock girl, let's partaaay!" she turned back to Star.

Star finally finished dragging Marco to his feet. "Yeah Marco, let's partaaay!" she told him cheerfully. It was her turn to show him a fun time! And hang out with both of her best friends!

"With her?" he asked hesitantly. He seemed a little off put by the floating disembodied head, or maybe by her dismissive appraisal of his looks. It was just Pony Head being Pony Head though. "Umm, okay, well, I was gonna...but we were..." he waved back at the now ruined nachos and couch that had the movie waiting. She felt slightly guilty, but they could watch it later. Opportunities to go clubbing weren't going to come along every day however! She gave him sad eyes, wordlessly begging him to come with her. She could go with just Pony Head, but she _really_ wanted Marco to come with them. "I...ugh, alright," he gave in to her pout. Star yanked both him and Pony Head into a group hug.

"My two besties are gonna be _besties_!" she declared. Neither seemed to share her enthusiasm. Maybe it wasn't going to be as easy as that, but she could feel that the two would at least come to get along in time. But this is where they were gonna start!

"Sweet! Let's go!" Pony Head declared. Actually, how were they going to get there? Star assumed they were going to head to the Bounce Lounge, that was their home turf. As a matter of fact, how had Pony Head gotten _here_? Both questions were answered as the floating princess coughed up something and displayed them on her tongue.

"Dimensional scissors! Ahh! Jealous!" And they were real ones too, not one of the cheap knock offs from Quest Buy or Rubicon. Star wished she had a pair of her own. With a pair of proper Hekapoo-crafted scissors, the universe was at your fingertips. This particular pair glittered with an inner fire, promising adventure and a little danger. A momentary glint of the light and runes indicating Hekapoo herself tugged at her attention, but she dismissed it in her excitement.

Pony Head slit open a portal and Star grabbed Marco's hand. She couldn't wait to show him around her favorite hang in all the universe! "Wait, were going to another dimension?" Marco protested, bracing his feet against her pull. If she gave him any more time to reconsider, the safe kid side of him was probably going to make him change his mind and bail. She put more force into her next tug and yanked him into the portal.

"Come on! And watch your step!" she warned. This was going to be awesome!

* * *

The story is pretty closely focused on Star and her take on events, so while there will be a lot of reuse of existing episodes, it will be only from her perspective. Later things will start to diverge more as Star starts trying to have more agency regarding her memories. She is starting to get a bit clearer pictures of the future at times, but a lack of context and her own tendency to avoid or run from problems means they may not always be useful. It's a bit of a fix fic both out of universe and by Star in universe.

Janna is almost much fun to write. I don't really have to think about what she would say or do, it just happens and I write it down.

Tried to get this done and posted up as fast as possible so I don't see too many other stories by writers who I think are better and then second guess myself and go back to revise everything.

Not sure on an actual schedule, but so far I seem to be averaging around a thousand words a day. No fixed length planned for chapters either, so I'm a bit concerned about pacing, but I am hoping things start to tighten up a bit once I reach a couple specific episodes. I don't want to go ahead and write out all the "fun" scenes I have planned in my head and risk losing motivation in writing the stuff that needs to happen to get there. Again, no beta, so any mistakes are my own. Some are intentional though, Star doesn't always know the correct Earth words for things.

Next chapter is going to cover Party with a Pony and Match Maker, maybe as far as School Spirit and Monster Arm. Titled Lessons.


End file.
